Screwed Minds

Chapters

Chapter 1: The Gates of Tartarus
Chapter 2: A Chaotic Odyssey
Chapter 3: Arrival
Chapter 4: The Beauty of a Sun
Chapter 6: Dissociative Identity Disorder
Chapter 7: Pranks
Chapter 8: A song of chicken and cheese
Chapter 9: Something worth living for
Chapter 10: Nightmares
Chapter 11: Goodbye and thanks for all the milk
Chapter 12: Crazy Mares
Chapter 13: Bugs
Chapter 14: Invasion of the Pony Snatchers
Chapter 15: Double Takes
Chapter 16: On how to cheat at learning
Chapter 17: Falling in order
Chapter 18: Freedom
Chapter 20: Royal Blood
Chapter 21: Telling the Story
Chapter 22: Fear
Chapter 23: The Gravity of the Subject
Chapter 24: Gossip
Chapter 25: A Certain Scientific Gala part 1
Prologue: Attack of the pastries, or How to destroy a world.
Chapter 5: Explanations are in order
Chapter 19: Waltz of the forest

Chapter 1: The Gates of Tartarus

“I don’t think it’s such a good idea…” I whispered softly, careful not to be heard by the two guards situated only a few meters away from us, at the corner of the corridor. “They don’t look like they want to play that much.”
Of course they want to play ‘hide and seek’. Verso replied at the back my mind. And you’re doing great! We’re nearly at the exit. Don’t forget, Recto, we reach the lift, we win!
“You’re usually the one on the front for such games,” I quietly replied. “Are you really so tired? Maybe we could go to sleep instead.”
I would be doing that if our previous encounter didn’t force me to… hide as I could. It burned away a lot of my power.

I nodded at his explication and concentrated, extending my sense-field just like Verso had instructed me. Grinning when I finally felt them, I pulled softly on the nearest one’s ears and curled as much as I could behind the conveniently well placed boxes.

“Hey, you felt that?” he said, his voice deformed by his full helmet, turning his head in my direction.
“Felt what?” the other responded with a more high pitched voice.

I quickly acted the second part of the plan and felt my brain pinching the inside of my skull as I hid part of the light to create a moving shadow at the end of the corridor I was coming from.

“I saw something moving over there!” the first guard said quickly.
“You think it’s him?”
“Someone else would have contacted us already,” he explained while pointing his rifle to the corner. “Remember, we must use our paralyzing ammo.”
The second guard nodded and flipped a switch on his weapon. “Why don’t we just use regular ones? He already caught another team, we should…”
“Don’t speak blasphemy, soldier,” the first one growled angrily. “You know he mustn’t be harmed.”
“But it’s a monster! Didn’t you see what he did to Jess’ an hour ago?”

What are they talking about? I asked Verso. Did we do something wrong?
Of course you didn’t! They’re just… Well, I don’t know. Maybe they’re talking about someone else?
You really think so? I thought ‘monster’ was our nickname. They wouldn’t be using it for someone else, would they?
… Maybe…
Oh, well. I guess it can be used for more than us.

They slowly walked past us and I silently crept further when they were far enough, moving toward what Verso indicated as the lift’s direction as fast as I could.

Good job! Now, there’s only a door between us and the exit. We’re winning!

I smiled widely, sharing Verso’s joy. After half a minute of careful walking, we arrived in front of said doors. Extending my senses behind it again, I discovered that nobody was guarding the lift’s room.

I opened the door by messing with the electronic lock like Verso showed me and entered the room. In front of us was our final goal, the metallic doors of the elevator, shining like the beautiful gateway to the outside they were.

Finally, we can get outside of this institute! I’m sure the city will be much better, Verso rejoiced. Go on, enter! They may catch us any second now!

I pressed the upward button on the side and the doors opened, revealing another small room. I was a bit confused.

I thought it would open to the outside? Are you sure it’s not a broom closet or something?
It’s a moving cabin, Recto. We must get inside and choose the floor we want to get to.

I stepped in and discovered a board full of numbered buttons. On Verso’s advice, I pressed the highest number and the doors closed. The cabin started to move, making me feel a little dizzy.

But we won! Yay!

“You’ve been doing well, Kay,” a metallic voice cracked out of nowhere. “But you know we can’t allow you to get out.”

Or not.

CRAP! Quick, press the other buttons, we have to get out of here!

I did as I was told but the lift didn’t stop anyway. I heard a faint hiss and suddenly felt a bit funny.

Shit, those bastards are using gas!

“We are sorry. You will wake up in your room, as always.”

Oh well. We lost. Bah, I’m sure Verso will find another game soon. I sat down and felt our eyelids becoming heavier and heavier, until I finally closed them and drifted off to sleep.

I woke up on our bed, in our white paneled-wall room. Sitting up, I stretched our back with a groan of pleasure and waved happily at the cameras in each corner. They surely replaced them quickly after Verso disconnected them from the walls earlier.

I got up and walked to the big shiny mirror-screen thingy on one side of our chamber and waited as the panels moved and brought the sink inside. The shower also got out of one corner, as it always had in the past twelve years.

After I took a shower, I brushed our brown hair and stared for a second at my blue eye and Verso’s yellow one. I always wondered why our eyes changed color when we switched positions. And why is Verso’s yellow and mine blue? It’s not even my favorite color! Well, yellow is Verso’s favorite, but I prefer green. So why blue for me?

After my morning routine, I walked back to our bed and knocked on the panel that hid our books, wondering what I could read before our day really started. Levitating the final Harry Potter tome, I sat on the bed and continued the story.

Those… bastards! They cheated! Verso complained.
Do you mind? I’m reading here. I thought back.
But, we nearly escaped! I worked on this plan for two weeks! We waited for the best moment! And they fucking GAS us on the exit? Who the hell installs a gas room in a freaking elevator?!
Seems like they were prepared for this.

I left Verso at his growling and concentrated back on the book in front of me. I simply couldn’t let him distract me off the best part.

Half an hour later, the panels hiding the door moved, revealing a wheeled android carrying a food tray.

Well, that’s new.

I quickly got next to it and examined it. There was usually that nice lady that brought me my breakfast. Why wasn’t Jessica here?

“Hey, can you talk?” I asked.
“Accessing: authorized informations. Answering: this model is indeed able to produce sounds to copy the human ability to speak.” A funny buzzing voice answered.

I clapped happily. I knew there were a few robots working out there, but it was the first talking android I saw.

“What’s your name?”
“Accessing: authorized informations. Answering: this unit is designated as XT_3D410.”
“That’s a funny name. I’m Recto. Can I call Hixxy? That would be much simpler.”
“Accessing: editing informations. Status: unauthorized administrator. Answering request: You don’t have the authorization to edit this unit designation.”
“Is that a ‘no’?” I questioned, confused, while Verso snickered.
“Accessing: general informations. Answering: Yes.”

I blinked and looked at the food tray, groaning when I discovered the artificial protein and vitamin food supplement that mostly composed it. What wouldn’t I do for a real apple?

Glancing at the strange but funny sounding robot, I levitated the tray and sat down on the floor, still examining the machine while I started to eat.

“Do you have to talk like that? It’s confusing.”
“Accessing: factory programming. Analyzing for inquiry. Answering: No.”

I blinked twice and Verso started to laugh.

“But… why do you keep talking like that then?”
“Accessing: editing commands history. Searching for comment. Answering: An administrator wanted to see your reaction. Command ‘analysis’ completed. Switching to primary speech programming.”

I didn't think these guys had any kind of humor. There must be a newbie in the programming unit. I like him.

“You can speak normally now?”
“Please define: normally.”

I stared at the robot for a second, wondering if that was some kind of joke and finishing my meal. I got up and levitated the tray back on his arm.

“By the way, why isn’t it Jessica that brought it today? Is she sick?”
“Unauthorized information.”

I sighed. Hixxy – I’m totally going to call him that way now – left a few seconds later. When the panels closed, I walked back to the sink and brushed our teeth again. I would have walked back to continue reading, but the mirror-screen flashed and changed its colors to show the hooded face of one of our instructors.

“I’m a bit disappointed, Kay. I thought you understood that we are keeping you here for your own good,” he said. “Why do you constantly try to escape?”
“My name’s not Kay, it’s Recto,” I corrected with a smile. It’s funny how they keep forgetting it. “And I was playing Hide and Seek with Verso. And everybody else, I guess. Verso said we had to reach the elevator in order to win.” I scratched my chin for a second, and beamed: “Is that why you sent Hixxy? Because we won?”
The hooded figure shook its head and sighed. “You know the rules. You mustn’t leave your room without someone guarding you. And the robot is here to replace officer Smeet.”
“So she is sick. I hope she get better,” I concluded.
“I... suppose you can say that, in a sense,” the instructor hesitated. “Now, we have a busy schedule to keep. Today, we’ll start with…”

I immediately disconnected. As much as I enjoy talking with someone else than Verso…

Hey!

… The lessons were just plain boring. Always ‘calculate this’ or ‘remember that’. You know there’s something wrong with education when you spend your time surrounded by problems.

Now, don’t be like that. I think it’s rather entertaining. And easy.
Why don’t you get on front like you usually do while I go off to sleep, huh?

We exchanged our positions and I left Verso to listen to this ‘quantics physum’ or something and drifted off to mind-sleeping.
I was awoken later by the magnificent sound that was Verso’s voice imitating an alarm clock.

Hey, Sleeping Beauty, He playfully said. Time to wake up. Lesson’s over and I used enough of the database for today.
Guh… What time is it?
We had lunch two hours ago. Now, get back on front, you know I dislike being here unless necessary.

I reluctantly got back to the front and discovered that Verso left the screen on the home page. I switched it back to the mirror configuration and grabbed my book. I was totally finishing it today!

Exactly six paragraphs later, the screen changed again to reveal another hooded face. But I don’t remember ever seeing that one before.

“Kay, stand back. Two people will enter. You will not move unless they tell you to.”
“I’m Recto,” I corrected with a smile. First, reaching for the elevator, then, encountering Hixxy, and now even more new people! Best day ever!

A panel opened in the wall and I saw the unusual duo that entered my room: a funny looking overweight man wearing a lab coat, small round glasses and a big white beard accompanied by a guard in full armor carrying a cloth bag that looked like it contained a rectangular thingy.

The bearded man looked like someone I saw before though… Of course!

“Is it Christmas already? Why is Santa coming to see me personally?”

Verso face-palmed, Santa looked at me with confusion in his eyes and the guard groaned silently. Then, Santa laughed, in a typical Santa way.

“Oh, oh, oh! No, I’m not Santa Claus, sorry to disappoint you. I’m Father Nic. I’m happy to finally meet you.”
“Oh… I’d have loved to meet Santa…” I shook my head and smiled. “Hello, I’m Recto!” I glanced at the guard. “What’s your name?” I asked.

The guard didn’t answer. Rude.

“She’s Kim,” Santa-like Father Nic answered instead. “Ignore her; she’s just here to look angry.”

I chuckled and Father Nic walked next to a panel and it opened, revealing a strange looking plastic ball.

That’s unusual. Verso noted. I don’t like that.

“So, Recto, right?”
“Yep.”
“Father Nic, you shouldn’t use his delusion-based name,” the hooded figure said.
“With all due respect, Father Luc, I prefer being in his good mindset while I’m here.” He turned back to us with a happy face.

Look at his eyes.
Huh?
His eyes. They’re afraid.
Why is that?
I have no idea~ He answered happily, confusing me.

Father Nic walked to us and I indeed caught a glimpse of apprehension and maybe fear in his eyes, despite his confident smile.

“I heard you could levitate objects with your mind,” he said. “Can you show me with this?”

I happily made the ball float around, flying it around our heads. It was a bit difficult to correctly control its trajectory, but I did fine.

“Great! Now, I heard you could also feel what’s inside objects. The ball is hollow. Can you tell me what’s inside?”

I lost my smile.

“I… I can’t do that on something to small,” I hesitantly said. I perked up. “But Verso can! You want me to ask him?”

I don’t think it would be a good idea…

Kim failed to discretely grab her gun and Father Nic paled a little but didn’t lose his smile.

“Of course. It’s just a little routine test.”

I nodded.

Could you do that? I don’t want to disappoint someone that looks like Santa. He could be Santa hiding himself to test if we’ve been bad this year!
... You’re not serious, are you?
Of course I am! I don’t want to get coal this year!
… If it’s so important to you…
Yay! Thank you!

I exchanged positions with Verso and watched what was happening with disguised Santa.

“You wouldn’t believe why he asked me to do this,” Verso groaned. Both Kim and Santa Claus in disguise tensed up. “Give me that freaking ball so I can go back to sleep as soon as possible.”

Be nicer! You could upset Santa!

“You gotta be kidding me…” he muttered inaudibly while he deployed his own sense-field to inspect the inside of the plastic ball. He rose an eyebrow. “You put a small cross inside that thing? I guess the rest of the electronic is supposed to measure the pressure we exercise on this, but why would you also put a cross in it?”
Santa-Nic was sweating for some reason, even though it wasn’t that warm inside our room. “You felt the electronic too? Well, that’s better that what we were expecting you to. The last time you did such a test, you couldn’t feel it.”
“Last test was over a year ago. You really didn’t think I had progressed since?”
“Well, that’s good for you.” He grabbed the plastic ball and put it back into a wall.
“What’s inside the bag?” Verso asked.

Well, duh… It’s Santa, he carries a cloth bag with a rectangular thing inside. It’s our gift of course!

Badly-hiding Santa turned to look at the bag with apprehension, but the hooded face on the screen answered before him.

“Look at it like a little… present.”

Ah! I knew it!
I don’t like the way he said that.

Santa-Father Nic grabbed the bag from Kim and it looked like it was really heavy all of a sudden. Verso deployed his sense-field to take a look at it and it felt… empty?

While Verso was frowning in confusion, Father Santa arrived in front of us.

“Well, here it is.” He offered the bag us.

Open it, open it! Christmas gift, yay!
I really don’t like that. Maybe they’re afraid of me, but why are they so terrified when they give that thing to me?
It’s a gift, nothing can go wrong!

Verso lazily levitated the bag to us and emptied it on the floor, a few meters away from us. A strange box fell out of the bag and Verso froze.

How to describe it… It was rectangular, but also round and triangular. It wasn’t reflecting light, but it wasn’t black either. We could see it, but it felt like I wasn’t there. And it had an oddly normal looking silver lock on the top side.

Well, that’s a strange box. You think our present is inside that? Verso?

His side of our soul was frozen in an emotion I didn’t even know my mindmate could have: pure terror. Being in control of our body, he stepped back to put more distance between us and the strange box.

“W… What…WHAT IS THAT?!” he screamed. “It isn’t supposed to exist! Get that thing away from me!”
“It seems like you recognize it, Kay. Could you please enlighten us?” the hooded figure said.

He turned our head so fast I’m pretty sure I heard our neck pop. His mind quickly changed from a frozen pit of terror into a fiery enraged hell.

Recto, go to sleep.
What? But why? You…
GO TO SLEEP NOW! Verso snapped.

I shivered. Verso never snapped at me. He was often angry with most other people and sometimes shouted at some other before telling me to sleep for a little while, but he never ever snapped at me.

And right now, he just did.

O… Okay… I muttered. And I drifted away in the unconsciousness.

That son of a… As if imprisoning us in this fucking mad-house for our entire life until now wasn’t enough, he dares to bring THAT here?! How is it even possible? That… That thing shouldn’t even exist! It can’t be real! It CAN’T be real!

As I was storing more and more of our inexplicable magic inside me in my rage, I saw Father Nic backing away and that guard raising her gun, ready to shoot me. I roared and used my telekinesis to first crush her weapon before hurling both of them against the wall at a deadly speed. The satisfying sound of their bone shattering against the reinforced ceramic composing the panels would have usually allowed me to calm down.

But today was obviously far from a usual day.

The instant I unleashed my powers to kill those two freaking cockroaches, IT began to talk.

W̫͋̅e̲̗͉̟̽ͥͥ̄ͦ͛͗ ̞͐̓ͯ͒͂͗f̬̟̹̰̭̳̍̒̃͗̍̚ǐͥ̑͊̂ͨ͑n̤a͕̪̭̺̳l̗̎l̻͈̻̅̉͐̂̈ỷ͇̤̏͛͆̄ͯ ͕́m̳̓̿̏̃̈́ë͙̖͕̻̗̣͔́̇̓̆ͦe͈̞̝̤̟͂͑ͅt̆ ̼̝̲̥̣̙͊ea̩̟̳̾͗̅ͬch̔͆ ̩̘̪̬̩͎̩͂ͣͥ͐̈́̔ͥŏ̹̳̝̮̜̐t̥h͔͇̓e̦ͪṙ͈̯̼̦̻̪̺ͨ̅̚,̆̿ ̳̦̤̣͈̓̒̑̈́͒̃̚K͙͔̊ͤ̉̍ͪ͑ͪa̬̖y̤ͭ͑̇̆́̇̚.͕̲̺͍̒̊̓ͫ̒̅

A terrible shiver ran through my spine. No, this voice isn’t real. It can’t be real. It can’t be real.

“You bastard!” I thundered at the hooded man. “How dare you bring that thing in front of me?”
“His Highness has decided the time has come. His prophecies are always right,” the cocksucker calmly answered me. He brought a book before him and started to read: “A century after the Swan Song, the Devil will be awoken in the Haven of the Mountain. Its crimes will be many during the Winter and all of what is left of Mankind will discover what true despair he is to bring. And when his evil will be too grand to be kept away, when the age of reason and hope will end, he will be brought to the core of the Mountain. There, Judgment will fall and the Son of Man will fade out to free the Concealed and to open the Gate for the Age of the Gods.”

He then began to repeat those four sentences in a loop, in his religious butt-crap. Another roar, a hand directed toward this blasted screen and I crush his picture. But not without hearing ITS voice again.

Y͉͚̿̿̚o̯̪̯̦̥̞͛ͨ̀̔̅ͭu̩̜͛̐̓̋ͤ̀͂ ͖̉̀͛͑k̥̣̾̆̽ͩn̹̮̳̈́̑̍̓͆ͅo̩̙͚͕͕̲ͥͅw͂ͮ̒̏̿̂̿ ̝̼̫̼̪̺ͅy͚͔̼ͨͭ̑͂̄o͚͔ͯ̒u͖̳̳̯̐́͌̐ͮ ̳͓͕̠̻͙͓͐͑̈͆̓̽c̝͔͎̓̊͆a̦̝͎͐̆ͧ̇n͙͙͐͆ͭ̅̋’̟̺͕̔̇̇̄̈̈t̾̇͑ͯ̒ ͇͖̭̠̋̂̈́̄̈ͣ͐e͖͈͚̙̟s͇̼̣̥͉̣̲̅c̘̲͎̘ͫ̑̇̑a̼̭̜͚̚p̝̖͕̞̲ͧ͐e̫͍̓ ͔͈͖͚̬̚y̰͙̮̍̑͆͛ͥ̽ͅọ͙̮̟͑͋̏ͫ͌̚u͎͚͍̭͙̠̞r̖̳̮̱̞̈̇ ̜̣̾̇̈́͛ͬ̆d̤̳̝̪ͯ̑̂̒e̺̰̝̞̲̋̃͋̂̅̃ͯs̮͈̣ͥ̒̔t̫̂͌͗̽̍̉í̹n̤̟͉͔͔̲̭y̭̺̰̯͈͙ͫ̌,͇͙̹̤̪̖̰̽̈̄̃̃͑ ͇̮͚̱̇ͭ̒K͈̙͒̾͊͌ͭả̬̺̞̖͗͒ͬy̭̻̙͉ͬ͋̎.̻̽̈ͩ̍̈ͤ͋

It can’t be real. It can’t be real. It can’t be real.

I use my powers to rip off the panels blocking the door only to discover a corridor filled with terrified gunmen aiming at me. With reflexes I didn’t even know I had, I take cover next to my room’s exit, escaping their first salve of bullets only by a few heartbeats.

W͎̘̯̳̥͔̺ͯh̩̤͚̪͉̟̪̮͚͆̉̓̒ͫ̄y͚͔͙̠͙̬̦̬̭̓̈́ͤ̓̿͋ ̭̞̱͛̀͗͒̈́̅̽a͔̟̫͕̖̋͆̂ͦ̔ͪ̈́ͮr͍̥͋̄̆̿̈ͫ̔̑e̘͎̤̫͊n͙̰͈̙̩ͪ̄̌̑͊̈’̙̬͓͍̌̋̆͌̏̐͊ͅt̰̹̼̟̮̼̯̥ͮ͐̃͛ ̟̣ͣͬ̏̒͑ỳ͕̦̲̩̽̽ͭȍ̺͚̼ͨ̒ͭ̋̄u̺͔̓ͬͯ́̊ͫ ̣̆̌̈́a̝͓̞̪̺̱̥͒̓̈́ͧͧc͚̫̝̈̆ͣ̉c̫̟̥̯̫͕̜̈̋́̊ͭ̏ͅͅe̳̭̻͇͇͆ͧ̈́̈͐̍p͉̭̘̹̱̺͓̀̓̈́ͦ̀́t̤̝͎̓̽͌̊̑i͈̮͎̬̰̞̋̋̅͌ͣ̋̒ṋ̬̬͇̜̹̞̒͛g̼̜͖͉̺̮̭̭ͪ͌̽̃ͧ ͉̠̺̱͙ͭͪͣ̂͐ͭ͆ͭͪy̬̻͕͇͓̖̠̓̌͑ͩo̥̗̗͙͉̳̖ͭ̇ͥ̀̆ͅu̱ͬͧͯ͛̉̀r̻̰̝̞̒ ̰̪̤̟͎̦̗ͣ̄̿̑͆̽͛͌f̳̥̫̱̮̹̯̼̐̍͒̇͆a͎̳͉̣̗͚̗̺ͥ̔̆͛̿͒̑̅t̫̆̽ͭͪͬe͇͔͉̻̰̋,̥̳̪̰̺̺̐̽ ͇̭̠̰̺̰̹̤ͤ͒̾K̜͈̲͇̅ͯ̅̂͗͌ͭa̩͍̞̦̬̱̘ͭͣẙ̲̣̻̳̙̔̍?̤̗͓̩ͦ̈́ͤͯ͑͋ͦͩ

“My name is not Kay…” I reply to the impossible voice.

It can’t be real. Please, let it not be real!

I grab one of the panels in my telekinesis and throw it spinning in the corridor fast enough to knock two of those fucking guards out. Seems like they learned their lesson yesterday and stayed away a few meters too far for me to simply break their limbs off. Those fanatic bastards…

T̤͍ͦ̽̿̓ͅͅh̘͚̰̼̬̣̦͖͑͌̿͐̎̚ȇ̩͖̣͚̣̬̊͒ͩ̒ ̩͍̜̣͙͚̺̄̊̇ͅͅt͖̤̳̺̯̟̖͖͆ͪ̽ͪ́i̭̪̎͊ͨͫ͋̔̇m͎̮̼̦̤͗ͅe͍ͬͫ̀̅͌͐̃ ̮̜͓͙̱̓̐̅h͉̫̟͖̰̯̱̳ͨ͒ͭ̈́̃̓̒a̙̳͇̰͖ͯ̅̀̇͂̃̃ͥ̐s̺͕̺͍͋ͣ͌͂̓̔ ̼͔̤͇̜̱͍͔͊̿̀ͧ̒ͮ̈́c̗̮ͦ̑̈́͑͑o̖̯ͮ̈̏́ͅm̦͙͎̬͖̝͙̑͛ͫe̦̙͑ͣͫ̐̀̓̀ ͕̭͔͔̂ͭ̃͐a͈̪̹̠̻͈̩͉ͨ͊͗̅͐ͥͪ̈́̚g͉̞̫̼̹̹̳̀͗ͨ͋a͇̰ͭͦ̈i̭̠̐͆́̊̍n̞̦̰͂͋̍̔͐̚,̝̰̯̖̭̪͉̫͙̋̈́ͦ̇ ͕͔͈͕̆ͨͫ̽ͥ̒ͧK̖̗͐͛ͯ̑̍ͣͣͨa̠̺ͫ̋̎͊ͪŷ̮̪̱̮̊ͯ̊̐̚.̤̮̰̻͋ͩ̒ͪ̽ ̺̹̺̖̮̯̬͌ͣ͂͐͋ͅA͇̫͍ͫ̔̅ͦͭ̇͂ṟ͉̙͔̮̯̥͓̍ͥ̐̈́̽̊e͔̝̬͍̬̲̣͕̣ͦ̋ͯ̎ͫ̍̂ͭn̗̙̜̙̺͙̩͐̃͂̐̈́ͧ̾ͅ’̦͙̼̗͉̺̃̓̂̌̀̐ͅt͙̩̼̺͒ͣ ̜̝̜̬ͩ̒͛y̙̺͓͙̓̇ͪ̾ỏ̻͚̱͌̒͛̿ͅu̲̱̭̫͕̯̽ ̙̬̩͚̤̙ͥ͆ͩͨg͍̹͓͈͗̊ͨ͒l͈̮̘̥̣̂̄̿͋̂a̺͔̰ͩd̦͕̥̯̈̎ ͓̾̈ͬ͑̉t̹̗̣͙͒o̪̱͖͍̮͇͔ͨͤ̾ ̫̬͎ͣͨ͑ͨ́s͈̙ͯ͂ͧe̩͉̙̺͖͈͓̒͗͐ĕ̯̟͚̱ͯͮͅ ͕̘̺̤̿͐͒̿m̳͈̓ͭ͐ͤ͊̂̽e̻ͬ̆̐?͖̳̰͉̹̈̓

“My name is not Kay.”

Not real. Not real. Not real.

I glanced at the thing on the floor and paled when I discovered it had actually moved, the freaking lock facing me now. I cursed myself for destroying the only ranged weapon in the room and levitated a panel partially hiding a corpse it the corridor, both of them receiving more than a few impacts.

Y̳̣͍͚̏ͥ̾̑ͯ̉͂͗ͫȏ̫͎͓͉͎̭̭̣ͨ̉͗ͪ̏̚u͓̣̞̞̪͚̟̯̱ͯͦ͑̌ ̞̣̦̉̒̐k̲͓̪̼̻̱̉͐̽ͫn̜̲̗͍̞͓̤͚ͮ̏͊̃̏o̖̹̱̖͌́̇ͦ̊̚ͅw̹̖̝̹̬̙͙͚͇̎ͩ̍̓̔̍ ̖̮̩̜̘͎̠̗̃͊ŷ͇̙͙̼̯ͪͦ̾͆ͥͩo̲͗ͯͭ͗͊u̫͕̻̳͑ͮ̏̔͐r̗̜͚͉͈̎̅ ̰̙͙͉ͦ̀d̼̭̈ͥ̿̆u̝͚͚ͨ̏̑ͅt̰̼̭̲̤̥͑̓̃ͨͨͪy̳̽̈ͧ̀͂͌͑̃,̠̮͛ ̼̼̬͎̝͎̔̐͌͐ͅK̺̙̭̪͙̜̆a͍͓͐y̙̯̰͙̙̹̥̱ͩ̍͛̐́.̭̰̠͛̏̚̚ ̭͕̦͕̲̼̘̰̑̑̈͋Y̯̙̪̠͚̔̆ͯͅo̺̠̙͎̺͛̒̊̍̇̈́̊u̗̖͐̑ͪ̃͌̎ ̪̖̓͑h̠̤̯̅̓̈́̌̏ă̼̤͓̲͊̂̄̌ͮ̿͑̚v̟̭̑͒ͮe̘̪̯͍͎̼̪̒ ͎̳̇̃͋̆ͧ͐̓̈t͔̭͓̭̫̱̒̒͐̽o͎̳̤̠̰͍̍̍ͫͩ̓͋ͨ̂ ̭̦̯̓̏͗͛o͉͖̳̭̠͎̹ͮͤ͌͑͋̽p͕̼͇̝͇̂ͯ̅̔̔̄ͭ͑e̮͉͇̤̘͇̼̙̋̿͂n̫̩̳̣̩̱͒ͫ̾͐̎̚ ̬̲̘̳̼̬̋ͧͭ̋ͧ̆̊̋ͅt͉̯͍̺̠̺̬̳͂͛̂͒̌h͙̻̳̦̦̄̀ͫ͆̉̔͑e̝͈̲̺̙̼̙̩ͦ̋̈̌̒̈̊ ̤͎̗̞͍̬̓ͫ̀ͣ͑͛͊͆ͅG̹̭̽͑ͪͯ̏̄̍ͨȧ̭͎̫͙̪̼̓ͦ̌ͪ̎ͨ͐ť̹̥͈͇̦̭̥̞ͭͦ͋̅́̚e͙͉̜͎̍͌̍̋͒ͩͭ͗.͇̯͙̹̺̉̃̇̏

“My name is not Kay!”

Tears started to flow out of my eyes, brought by the sudden pain the voice was running through my head. But I saw that the ceramic panel had withhold the metallic fire just fine, not letting even bullets piercing it. Maybe I could use it as a shield? I couldn’t just stop bullets with my mind, barely change their trajectory, but a shield would protect me long enough for me to reach 'ripping arms off' distance.

I levitated enough of these to cover me while I progress into the hall and penetrated the ‘Death Row’.

Y̭̟̝̣̥̔̂͒ͣͮ̍ͅô̪̜̤͍̬̰̥̐̄͌u͙̰̐̿ ̩͚͓͇͎̻̜̥̱̽̾ͪ̇ͪ͒͋k̮̖͙̳̠̋̉ͯ̒͑ͭn͚̯͙̳̦͛̽̃͐̿̔̄̚o͕̜̗ͩw̰̮̮̗̞̓͛ͯ̈̂ͨ͐ ̰͎̰̠͉̥̗ͤ̔̎̆ͨ͌ͮ͆̉y̘̼̆̉ỏ͙̹̻̲̗͂ͤͅu̳̯ͪͣ̔͒͊̂̎ ̬̭̞̟̝̤͑͋w̲̬ͥͤ͌ͭ̃ͣͅo̬̩̙̮̲̞̺͛͊̅ͦ̋ͦ̏ͪn͖̫ͦͣ̃̆’̹̝̺̟̓̑̑̋̈́̎̎̈́͆t͚͓̮̹͖͙͙̮̹ͧ̔̈̂̋ ̜ͪ̎̂͊ͭͪ͗ͮͅs̤̱̲̻͓͇̙̍͗͐̆ͭͣͬͅu͙̼͔̯̩̲͒̅͆ͤ̈ͨr̩͒̐̏v͍̟̈̄͊i̥̖̮̮̩̺̒̀͗ͭͅv͈̞̫͙̮̣̞͇̓̆̀ͭ̅ͬͬe̻̫̹͎͕͇ͬ̇ͨ ͈͊̉ͫ̿ͮͤt͎̺̫͍̣̤̉͛̓͆ͥͅh̻͂̌̏ï̻̩̣̱̼̩̟̀s̼̦͓̼ͭ̔͆́ ͙͈̣̻͈̬̳͍̈́͆͑͐͐̈́ḋ̦̹͓̲̠͊̉͂̅ȁ͙̱̗͚̰̙y̲̗̳͓̟̲͔̣̔͋ͅ,͙̼̮̦̘̜͛̅̈̋̒̏̚ ͙̫̞̝̗̇K͔̪͎̤͉ͭ̐ͣ̚̚a̯̞͔͙̪̖͉̼̋̔̀̀ͧ̅̅̃y͇̯̬̙̭̹̜̳͈͌͂ͯͫ̅̐̚.̞͍̘ͭ̌ ̻̪̜̩̺͉̩͓̊̂̌D̠͚̤̘͚̖͔͓͋ͪͣͧo̤͙̳̝̓̉͂̓ͥ̅͂̍ ̠̝͇̘̭̜̼̻̤̄̊̃y̠̼̩̦͊̌͛͐o͍̓͂ŭ͍̣̮͇ͭ̑ͥ͂̐ͥ̆r͕̞̩͍͍͉͛ ̬̬̪̦̬͌ͩ̂d̟̜̰͙ͩ̅̅́̉̀͑u̙̼ͨ̒ͤ̊́t͚͒̾̏y̘͙̝̦ͤ.̜̲̦͉̺̙̪̹̱ͪ͛͋̾͒̚

“I’m not Kay!” I shouted, dropping my attention for half a second.

Half a second that was enough for one of these white hot metal shits to hit me in the hip, earning a pain scream out of me. But I continued to walk anyway, nearly close enough to send all these crazy monsters to hell.

Ḍ̖̫̠̟̹͓͉͊̎̈͋o̪̦͍ͯͮ̇ ̺̗̩͖ͨͭy͈̖͉̪͈̠̘̙ͫ̅̓ȏ̭̪̥̘̲̐͒̎ͦ̽ͮ͆u̹͚̬͔̻̦̺ͥ͗ͤ̋͗̀̓̾r̯͔̣̟̮͋̉̿̿͛ͫ ̰̤̜ͬ̋̋͑d̜̻̝͚̣͍̼͉͂́͑̈́̇͆̚ṵ̳̹̠ͥ̈́ͯ̎̊t̪̱̜̰̙̭̃͐ͦ̆̌ͤy̜͍͓̬̰̘̒̅ͅ,̤̫̥̜̭͚̠̝ͮ̇ͬ̆̔̈͋͛ ̭̦ͤͭ̇K̤̝̉ͦͧͯ̎a̻̰͙̼̘̍̎ͣͩ̽y̯̫͓̯̦͖͉̓͂̊̏̂̑.͈̘͉̪͍̓̑͑͂

“I’m Verso! Kay died long ago!” I roared, tears now running free out of my eyes. Only a few meters left…

“Rocket launcher! Take cover!”

What?

The soldiers retreated further, leaving only one of them in front of me, armed with an entirely different kind of gun. The bastard was already aiming at me with a freaking ROCKET LAUNCHER for heaven’s sake!

I dropped soon to be useless protection and ran to that man, crushing both his weapon and his body in a simple desperate thought.

That was a bad idea.

“Fire!”

I didn’t really felt it. I think at least one of the first bullets sectioned part of my spine, leaving me only in control of my head. But it sure hurt like hell.

In a throat-splitting scream, I fell on my back. I rapidly deployed my sense-field and I felt these men running to me, shouting in victory. I smiled when I tore the first one in half, and started to laugh when I snapped the second’s neck.

T͍̗̘̹̠̭̘̆̒ȋ͈͖̜̺͔͙̆ͨͦm̼̹̜̻̣̽̈̃ͬ̚ḙ̗̞̳̖̓͛̏͌̄̅ͦ̒ ̝̦̦̈̂̚̚h̹͉͕̥͈̮̰̒̈́͐ͭ̏ͧͅằ̝̟̉̈̽s͎͓͖͖̯ͥ̌͗ ̩͖̻̫̟̞͕ͯ̈̋́͛c͔̜̖̜͙̪̿͗ò̮̱̥̼̮̬̘̖͛m͖̹̼ͩ̄͐ͧͣĕ̜̻͔͕͉̆ͩ.̩̙̥̼̝̣̥̮ͨ͑ͥ ̯̻͖͐͂ͩ̔̾ͧÒ̦̟͈̗̞̳̈̽̐̂̎ͨp͍̥̮̼ͪ̀̍̽ͣͣ̐́e͖͍͍̣̳͎̩̭̋̉̃͊̋ͤͥ̿n̗̙͙̟̖̲͚̯ͪͣ̓̅͋̄̉ ̻̳͈̦͚͖̜̻̈̊͛͂̐ͬ̏ͣ̚t͓͕̪͖̟̰̱̻̑ͦͦ͊ͫ̚ȟ͉̝̮̘̱̘̫ͪ́ͦ̆è͓͈͔͍̗̥͎͉̇́ͩ ̻̞̝̓͊̽̆͛ͨ̉G͕͇̯̹̳͌̿a̝͍̝͇̗͎̒ͣ͐͆̂̚t̗̙͙͍̗̼͚̝̟ͬ̆̏ͬ̓ͦ̚e̖͍̅ͤ̓̌̾͛͐ͅ,̜̻̞ͮ͌̓̒̐ͬ ̰̀ͣͥ͌ͥ̎́̾ͧḰ͍͓̘̚ă̪̞̦̬͍̘̌̄y̖̺̬̲͉̫̋ͥ̀̋̅̊̋.͚̗̭̋̋͑͒ͫ

“I’m sorry, Recto. I failed…” I whispered, killing a third guard.

IT was right under my head, I knew it. A blood coughing fit, another kill, and a fifth man was standing right above me, his handgun pointed at my forehead, fear, disgust and victory in his mind.
I was too exhausted to kill this one. I closed my eyes and waited for the end.

That is supposed to have arrived by now.

I opened my eyes again to discover a strange sight: the cannon of a gun full of frozen fire, the metal bullet stopped centimeters away from my skull. No sound, no movement, except mine of course.

“Well, isn’t the afterlife a lot shittier than what they said in the pamphlet…” I muttered.

I then heard laughter, resonating from everywhere and nowhere at once. A giant ball of light exploded at the corner of my sight, a bizarre-looking serpentine form appearing out of it.

Yep, definitely worse than the freaking cherubs singing for the eternity. Slightly better than an eternity in lava pool though.

The creature circled around me, and I discovered that it was the origin of the laughter. Great, serpentine freaks laughing for all eternity. I suddenly felt myself longing for a burning hot bath here.

“Now, now, don’t be like that, little guy. You’re not even dead yet.”

Okay, talking serpentine freaks laughing for all eternity. My hallucinations just reached a whole new level of creepy.

“You aren’t hallucinating,” it said. “And I know that’s what all hallucinations say, but how do you expect me to prove otherwise? I’m here to save you! Well, not exactly. I can’t risk altering a timeline as important as yours after all. So I’m just going to do that.”

I heard something that sounded like snapping fingers and suddenly found myself standing unharmed in front of the most fucked up creature I’ve ever heard of: head of a horse with a deer’s antler and a ram’s horn, snake or dragon tail, right arm of a lion, left arm looking like an eagle’s claw, with legs borrowed from a giant green lizard and a goat.

All in all, the most ridiculous yet strangely real chimera ever imagined. It even had bat and bird like wings on its back, definitely too small to allow him to fly.

“Hello, I’m Discord. Nice to meet you, Kay.”

Author's Note

And here we are. Both Recto and Verso are finally introduced and Discord arrives and saves the day!

Chapter 2: A Chaotic Odyssey

My eye twitched and I stared rather angrily at the chimera.
“My name is Verso, not Kay.”

It blinked and snapped its claw, making a scroll appear in its hand. It held it beside my head and glanced at my face and the scroll. Turning my head, I saw it was a surprisingly high-definition picture or my face, moving to match my expression. Only difference: it had blue eyes. I facepalmed. Those were Recto's. My eyes are yellow.

“Oh. My bad. Seems like I just saved the wrong one,” it declared. “Would you happen to have a twin brother?” Before I could answer, it glanced around us, looking at the scenery, and continued; “It sure looks a lot like the moment Kay died, though. There’s even the Gate behind your head! I know it wouldn’t just go and find somepony else!”

Preferring not to ask why it replaced ‘somebody’ by ‘somepony’, I looked around me too. And the first thing that hit my mind was seeing my own body half reduced to shreds on the ground, eyes closed. And that freaking damn box glowing right beside my head.
I jumped away from that thing. The chimera looked at me with an amused expression.

“A bit shocked? I guess seeing your own soon-to-be corpse can have that effect.” It shrugged. “I’m sorry, but I came to save Kay, and you say you’re not him. So I’ll just have to…”

“My name isn’t Kay, but that’s how my parents named this body,” I exclaimed before it did something I’d regret. “It’s kind of complicated.”

It smiled and disappeared in a flash, reappearing right next to me, its lion paw around my shoulders, it mouth next to my ears.
“I know, but it was way funnier to scare you a little.”

“How do you do that?!” I hissed, moving away from it. “You obviously stopped time, somehow make things appear out of nowhere, teleport and duplicated my body!”

“And your mind,” he nodded in confirmation.

And my… Oh, wait… Recto! He was away when he duplicated my mind! Did it…

Recto! Are you here? Recto!

I didn’t know it was possible to have a headache without being connected to our body, but it sure looked a lot like it. Verso’s voice rang through our soul and awoke me the hard way.

Verso? Are you finished with that strange box and Santa?
Oh, thank whatever is still looking upon us, you’re okay! I was so worried!
Why? Did something happen?
You can say it like that.

I started to connect to our senses to see through our eyes, but Verso stopped me.

Not right now, I… Could you go back to sleep for a few minutes?
What? You awoke me just to ask me to sleep some more? I mentally giggled. I have to admit, it sounds a bit funny.
Not exactly. I’ll explain it to you when I’m done.
Okay! Good night again!

I let out a breath I definitely knew I was holding. Recto was safe, everything was okay.

Well, except for the fact that we’d just been rescued by a mismatch of creatures with incredible powers that could probably wipe me off the surface of the planet with but a thought who also knew what that horrid ‘Gate’, as it called the box, was.

“Who were you talking to?” it asked.

And could spy our mental conversations. Totally normal.
I looked at it in the… yellow..? of the eyes, thinking as fast as I could.

“You said your name is ‘Discord’, right?”
“Well, I’m kind of a lefty, but that’s mostly true.”

God, the pun hurt my mind. Even Recto wouldn’t do that one, and he can have a really shitty humor!

“You said you came to save me. Why?”
“Is this some kind of question show? In that case…”

‘Discord’ disappeared again and three copies of him popped out of nowhere, standing behind a buzzer, ready to press the button. One of them was wearing big glasses and dental apparel, another wore a big frizzy blonde wig and pink lipstick, and the last one looked terribly old, patches of his fur falling of his body.

I don’t think there is a correct way to react to such a mindfuck.

The transsexual chimera pressed his… her… its buzzer:

“What’s the question again?” it asked in a parody of a feminine voice.
“Is he for real..?” I whispered, before repeating louder. “I said: why did you come to save me? Surely, something with… capacities such as yours doesn’t spend its time saving people.”

The elder Discord pressed his buzzer down.

“I’ll have you know,” he stated in a worn out voice, “that back in our days, we did a lot more than just ‘saving people’, youngin. And that we still could, if we wanted to. I may be a few years older than I should be to be playing the ‘superhero’ part, but that doesn’t mean any…” He tried to stand up and a terrible crack resonated in the room, his eyes shot open wide by the pain. “Oh! My back! I knew I shouldn’t do that anymore…”

The ‘female’ chimera rang her buzzer again.

“To answer your question, sweetie, a friend of ours recently opened our eyes about some things we have done, and we feel partly responsible for making your life as it is until now. So we’ve come to offer you a new beginning of sort.”

He feels ‘partly responsible’ for my life until now? And he knows what this horror truly is? What little thankfulness I felt for saving me quickly disappeared, drowned by anger. He made my life as it is now?! That bastard is the reason I…
Okay, okay, you need to calm down, Verso. First, that may not be what he is referring to. Second, you really don’t want to fight something with such powers as his. Final, you should hurry and let Recto wake up as fast as you can.

“Okay…” I growled, struggling not to try and see what would happen if his three heads were crushed at the same time. “So you can travel through time. But why didn’t you come sooner? And why are you duplicating me, instead of just taking me away?”

“I can anzwer zis,” the nerdy Discord announced, buzzing his buzzer. Heh, would Recto be here, he would probably have gone on and on with that one… “We want to zave you, but zinze we are in ze pazt, removing you from your timeline would cauze big troublez!” Gosh, his voice was already getting on my nerves. “Ezpezialy wiz a timeline zuch az yourz!”

Huh? I always knew I was a lot more important than the average human, but now my timeline was of the utmost importance? Hey, at least something good to remember from all this!
A sudden jab of pain inside my skull forced me to press my hand on my temple. I would have to return to the backseat soon.

“And why didn’t you come sooner then? Why wait for me to almost die?”

The gender confused Discord buzzed again.

“Well, you see honey, we want you to be at your best. And besides, we couldn’t really apologize for everything that happened, and we feel that you have to have experience the entirety of your… fate for you to maybe forgive us.” She… It winked at me, and I shivered in a mix of disgust and… well, more disgust.

“You said, ‘a new beginning’? How are you going to do that?” I asked, the pain strikes getting more and more frequent. He may have healed my body and restored most of my energy, but it seems that the stress was still hitting my very soul. “Give me the fast version, I hate being on front.”

The three chimeras flashed and the original Discord appeared before me.

“Well, if you want it to be fast, here it comes: I want to get you to a rather peaceful world, in another universe, on which you’ll be entirely free to live as you want.”

Wow, that was fast.

“And that’s it? No catch whatsoever? Not a ‘you’ll owe me one’ or ‘I’ll just need your soul’ or ‘you’ll be turned into a magical pony?”

“Nah, that’d be ridiculous,” he replied with an amused grin. “I came here because I felt guilty. But…”

Ah. That’s it. I always thought that a sentence means little before the obligatory ‘but’ in the middle.

“… I’ll just need you to be around. For the sake of my mind.”
“What do you mean?”
“For you, nothing. It’s just another reason I came to save you at this peculiar moment in my time period.”

I glared at him suspiciously, but another jab of mental pain made me decide to overlook that information and just groan in displeasure. Time to wake up Recto.

“Okay, Discord. I’ll wake up my mindmate now. He’ll go on front and be the most active one. And don't try to pull any trick: he may be weaker than me, I can still change position to kick your ass if I have to”
“Oho! So you have someone else inside your head!" the chimera answered, my threat obviously going waaaay over his head. "And I thought you were just crazy here.”
“By all means, I am. But that’s not the point.” Another terrible mental sting. “He’s named Recto, he is a lot... happier than than I am, but I just ask one thing of you: don’t tell him we died.”
“Why not?” He tilted his head. “Don’t you think he should know?”
“That’s not your problem. Just don’t.” I just don’t want him to know I failed to protect us…

Discord shrugged and snapped a claw, instantly transporting inside some strange room, without any exit or light source, but bright nonetheless. I was sitting on some sort of comfy chair while Discord floated above his, now wearing a top-hat, a monocle and a bowtie. On the coffee-table separating us laid some white porcelain cups, a teapot and what I assumed were biscuits. Like, real ones.I levitated one of them in my mouth and chewed it with pleasure. It tasted like heaven! Then, reality hit me inside my skull with baseball bat.

“Gah!” I growled when another migraine jab hit me. “Okay, I’ll wake him now.”

Recto! You can wake up now.
I swear I didn’t eat the last muffin! I shouted.
… What? Tell you what, I don’t even want to know right now, I'mn not even going to ask how you know what a muffin is.
I don't. I just just like the word.
...I have a little briefing for you.
Oh. Okay.

A few seconds later.

Let me recap: the box was some sort of trap, so you got us out of the Institute, we were hunted down by the guards and you encountered a magical chimera named Discord that wants to help us by bringing us to another world? All of this, while I was sleeping?
That’s about it.
Why is it always so great while I’m sleeping! I whined.
Trust me, I’d pass my ‘excitement turn’ any day.

I connected myself to our senses and got a look at Discord.

Hehe… He looks funny!
More like annoying as hell, but it doesn’t matter. Want to come back on the front? I’m tired with all the running.

We exchanged positions and I smiled brightly at Discord. No, he is helping us and Verso did say he had to be kinda old. And he has a funny hat. So it's mister Discord!

“Hello!” I waved at him. “I’m Recto! Nice to meet you, mister Discord!”
“Hello, buddy. I trust your friend explained you the situation?”
Stop that. I know you can hear us when we speak with each other.
“He can?” I exclaimed in wonder. “No one could, except Verso! That’s great, now we can speak without anyone noticing! That’s kinda like spy-thingy!”
“Well, aren’t you a lot more enthusiastic than your friend, now?”

I heard Verso growled at the back of our mind.

“Yeah, he is kinda grumpy when we aren’t playing ‘hide and seek’ or ‘tag’ with the guards. “
Hey!

Mister Discord and I both chuckled at his reaction, and I looked around us. Ooh, a new place! Fancy! And what are those brown things sitting the plate on the table?

That’s food, try it.

Ooh! New food! This day keeps getting better and better! I grabbed one of them and took a bite of it. And froze.

“Are you alright?” mister Discord asked after a minute, grinning.

His voice snapped me out of this trance and I figuratively exploded in joy. That was the most awsomest thing I ever tasted!

“Ohmygoshwhatisthisitssogooditsthebestthingever!” I shouted in excitement before swallowing the rest of this little piece of Heaven in one bite and levitating the others right to our mouth, munching as much of it as I could.

Careful, you’ll…
“Ugk!”
… choke or something… Well, that’s one way to go, I guess.

Something was blocked in my throat, preventing me from breathing. Verso facepalmed and mister Discord sipped a piece of his cup of tea.

“Jolly” he declared in the most neutral tone I ever heard. Then, seeing that I was choking a bit hard, he snapped his claws and a glass of some light brown liquid appeared next to us, floating in the air. “You may want to drink this.”

I grabbed the glass and drank it empty in a second, dislodging the crumbs trying to murder us from our throat. And I froze again. For about three seconds.

“Ohmygoshthisisevenbetteranditissttryingtokillmethisthebestdayeverofalltimeinalleternity! Whatisitwhatisitwhatisit?” I screamed in wonderful bliss.
Okay, calm down, you’re being hysteric here.

I breathed slowly and felt our heart rate slow down slowly, back to a normal rate. I glanced back at mister Discord who looked at me still unfazed. He was still drinking his cup. And I mean the cup: the liquid was mysteriously floating where he had already drunk the container.

“Oh? These are edible too?” I floated a cup next to me.
What? No! He is just strange. You have to drink the tea inside.
You know what these things are?
Yep. You ate a few cookie wand washed it away with a glass of chocolate milk. The best food we had in years.
And what is this ‘tea’?
Hot water infused with leaves.
Sounds strange.

I sipped at the ‘tea’ and nearly spat it back, surprised by the warmth of the drink. Gulping it down, I winced.

“Tastes strange too.”
“I suppose you’re not used to its flavor,” mister Discord said, swallowing what was left of his cup and just throwing the mysteriously floating tea behind him, where it exploded. “But we have some pressing matter at hand.”
“Right.” I levitated the cup down on the table. “Like, what are you wearing around your neck?”
Mister Discord looked a bit taken aback and glanced down. “The bowtie?” he asked.
“So that’s what bowties look like? Bowties are cool! Can I have one?” Mister Discord snapped his talon and a white one appeared around our neck. “Yay!”
“Verso wasn’t joking when he said you were silly. But that’s not important. I cannot stay here much longer; you have to make a choice.”
“What choice?” I asked, before the memory came back to my mind. “Oh, yeah, you offered to take us to another universe.”
“Yes, and I also promised it was way safer for you than your world. You would be the only human there though.”

Oh. I first thought it was a no-brainer, but being all alone, even with Verso, for the rest of our life may be a bit… lonely.

You’ve thought about it already, Verso?
Yes, but I won’t tell you unless we disagree. I don’t want to influence your choice.

Well, let’s weigh the pros and the cons. On the plus side, we don’t have to worry about the Institute anymore, but we would be kinda alone.

“Not exactly,” mister Discord said. “You would be the only human, but there are other sentient beings on this planet.”
“Oh, kinda like aliens so?” Yay! Meeting little green men!
“Well, you would be the alien there, in fact.”
“What? You’ll turn us into a small green man? Why? That would be silly!” I giggled. “But rather funny too.”

Verso facepalmed again and mister Discord chuckled and told me we wouldn’t change our specie. Back to the decision: not all alone with Verso, but just no other human. I guess I’d miss human contact a bit.

Now, only one question was left for me to make my choice.

“Will there be more chocolate milk there?” I asked in my most serious voice.

I think Verso’s figurative eyes twitched and mister Discord exploded in laughter. Like, literally: he exploded and solid ‘laughter’ words were spread everywhere messily. He reappeared in front of us, making the small table disappear.

“There will be more chocolate milk than you could possibly dream about.” I stared at him in wonder, stars in my eyes. “I take it you’ve made your choice?”
“Yes! To the chocolate milk world!” I answered as loud as I could.
Just… Just take us away from here already. Verso said in an irritated voice for some reason.
Mister Discord’s grin grew wider. “Well, ‘pony up’ friends, and please keep your arms and legs inside until the vehicle is completely stopped.”
“Inside what?”
He wrapped his arm around our shoulders and looked in the same direction I did. “No time to explain. Weee!”

Everything exploded in colors and I felt like we were violently dragged by some incredible force. It felt like falling for an eternal second, surrounded by cheap special effects, kinda like that scene at the end of A Space Odyssey, only for real with less three eyed babies.

Not that there weren’t any though. We saw lots of strange things: cities of glass floating into the nether, gigantic flying turtles carrying smaller but still planet-sized elephants who were also supporting some kind of plate, a big green thing looking like the mutated child of a kraken and a man with leather wings, a giant spaghetti dish with googly eyes, a small blue box flying through space, and many, many other things I didn’t understand. I think I saw some space ducks too. Such majestic creatures.

That was kind of the funny part. Because pain arrived soon after.

Chapter 3: Arrival

I figure I can say we fell hard on the ground, but that’s not the most important thing that happened. In fact, neither verso nor I know exactly when we hit the ground. We were exposed to something much, much worse.
Or so I think, because Verso swapped me away from the controls and our senses in no time. It had just started to fill like we had pins and needles in our entire body at once. But I guess it was pretty horrific began he started to scream as much as he could in a matter of seconds.

Verso! What’s going on?
It burns! It… Argh!

Even from my rather disconnected state, I felt something happened to our body, like a sudden tugging. I connected to our eyes, carefully not reaching for our pain receptors, and discovered our vision was blurry and reddened, even switching on and off somehow, preventing us to see anything.
I then reached for our hearing and heard a terrible mix of buzzing, cracking and screaming. This sense too was turning itself on and off every few instants.

Verso’s cries of pain rang again through our soul, and a few cracks began to appear in it, growing in number each and every time he pleaded for help. That wasn’t funny at all.
What should I do? What should I do?
You stay out of it! Aaah! I can take it as long as we…

He started screaming again and a crack suddenly opened right where I was in our soul. And I suddenly felt so very tired… Maybe I should just sleep it away? Yeah, that’s a good idea… Sleeping…
Numbness extended over my mind while I felt myself drifting away into the greatest slumber I ever experienced… Until I heard Verso’s voice again.

No! Don’t you dare! Stay awake!
But I’m sleepy…
No, you’re not! Stay with me! You can’t do that!
You always sleep whenever you want, I wanna sleep too…
No, no, no, no, no! Stay awake! Please don’t sleep! Don’t drift away!

DON’T LEAVE ME ALONE!

A sudden surge of energy ran through my mind, forcing the numbness away. I burst our eyes open, as I was in control of our body again. Whatever pain Verso prevented me from feeling had disappeared and I felt strangely energetic, if a bit dizzy.
We were face-down on the ground, I that I recognized as white marble from what I could remember from the few general lessons I actually listened to at the Institute. A few voices were audible, rather close to us.
“What was that, Discord?!” a feminine voice said. “Thankfully, it stopped, but I think the poor thing might finally be dead!”
“I am rather happy I ordered the guards to stay out,” another worried feminine voice said. “I don’t think they would have endured this sight, especially after your ‘pastry army’ this morning. I’m a bit worried none of these screams made them come back in, though.”
“That may be because I soundproofed the room when I understood what was about to happen,” mister Discord replied. “I should have thought about that, but it’s over. He should wake up soon.”

That… damn… motherfucking…BASTARD! Verso shouted in a fit of rage only comparable to the anger he felt when he saw the strange box. I’ll rip his arms off and shove them so far inside his rectum he will be able to scratch his throat!
Yuk.

“And there he is,” mister Discord said.
Verso forced his way on the controls and we immediately felt like we were hit by lightning.
“Gaah! What is that?!” he screamed, falling back to the ground.
“Let your friend on the front again! I’ll explain!” mister Discord answered in a hurry.

Verso rushed in the back of our soul and I got the control again. The lightning sensation stopped and I breathed slowly, calming our heart rate again. The ground looked fine.

What the hell have you done!? Verso shouted in our mind, positively hysteric.
“I suggest you try and calm down. You’re okay.”
‘Okay’?! We were just tortured and I can’t get out anymore! This is not okay! We nearly died!

I think he was about to get out and ignore the lightning feeling just to rip mister Discord’s heart out. And squash it for fun. So I got up myself and stood shakily on the ground. In front of us, mister Discord and two other creatures were looking at us, what I recognized as apprehension in their eyes.
Oh, and they were unicorns too.
…
Oh my gosh! Unicorns! It’s even better than the space ducks!
They looked like horses, of course, but their eyes were a lot bigger. There was a white one with a strange aurora borealis-like mane that stood a bit taller than us and a smaller dark blue one with a sparkly mist-like mane. Both of them were wearing a small crown and strange jewelry around the base of their neck, golden with a sun symbol for the white, ink black with a white crescent moon symbol for the other. They also had feathery things resting on their sides.

“Are you okay?” the white one asked with worry in her voice. Wait! It’s an alien! Just because her voice sounded like a feminine human one. Maybe it’s a male!

Mister Discord snickered and placed his hands on his muzzle to stop himself.

“Yes,” I answered, walking closer to them. Or so I’d have, as a sudden case of dizziness made me lose balance and fall on the floor again. I’m beginning to think it either wants to hurt me or it really like me. “I’m okay!” I yelled when I sat up, not daring to walk again for the moment. “I’ll just sit here for moment.”

The two unicorns glanced at each other, and then glared at mister Discord who didn’t see them, as he was busy whistling while looking at the ceiling.

I don’t care what this soon-to-be rug is doing! I want to know what happened! Verso roared, still angry.
“Well, well, well, since mister Grumpiddy McGrump”- I giggled and he smiled- “is being so nice and polite, maybe I should start my explanations.”
“Who are you talking to, Discord?” the blue unicorn asked, glancing its eyes leaving me for just a second to glare some more at mister Discord’s back.
“We’ll start with the presentations!” he exclaimed. He snapped his talon and a giant mirror appeared next to me, with golden ornamentation on the sides.
“Is that my bathroom’s mirror?” the white unicorn asked, a calm but somewhat resigned expression on its face.
“Oh, Celestia, how can you even imagine I would be so silly in such a situation?” mister Discord scowled, sounding rather upset.

The white unicorn, Celestia – funny name – looked a bit surprised by mister Discord’s harsh answer.

“I’m sorry,” it said, “it’s just…”
“It comes from Luna’s, of course.”
“What?!” the darker unicorn exclaimed while I started to laugh.
“Don’t be such a filly, Woona. Sacrifices needed to be made.”

I was laughing pretty hard at its enraged and frustrated expression, but of course, someone had to be a killjoy.

Will you cut the crap, for God’s sake?! Verso infuriated voice shouted across our soul. He tried to get in the front again, but was cut off by the lightning sensation. What the fuck have you done to us?! Why am I trapped?

Mister Discord and I both sighed, and he snapped his paw once again. This time, though, nothing appeared, leaving all of us in a rather awkward silence. I double checked around us: no additional mirror or chocolate glass milk to be seen, to my dismay. I shrug and inspect the big mirror some more.
The moment I did this, we felt a strange tug at our mind that left Verso really confused.

“What the hell is that?” he said, his voice sounding a bit more distant than what I was used to. “How am I seeing our body without the mirror?”

Both unicorns suddenly stared at the mirror with a surprised look on their face for some reason. Mister Discord was just grinning at us.

What do you mean? I mentally replied.
“Well, it feels like I’m not in the same place you are anymore. What has that fucktarded chimera done this time?”
“Oh, seems I have to put on a T-rated censorship on this one,” mister Discord chuckled and snapped his talon again.
“What the *buy some apples* do you think he means by that?”
Huh… what did you say?
“Nevermind, I shouldn’t have asked you that.”

Okay, there was definitely something strange going on. I moved my head to look at mister Discord and the unicorns, hoping they would have some sort of explanations, but Verso freaked out:

“What the *buy some apples*? Did you move our head?”
Well, yeah, why?
“Because my sight field didn’t move! I’m still looking from that *buy some apples* strange angle!”
You are speaking strangely. Why do you say ‘buy some apples’ in the middle of your sentences?
“What? I don’t say that! Why would I tellyou to buy apples?”

Mister Discord was laughing hard on the floor now and the unicorns looked really, really confused now. The dark one – Luna I think – glanced at us and asked:

“Is it normal for your species’ reflections to talk all on their own?”

I stared at her dumbly and turned to the mirror, wondering what exactly she was talking about. Oddly enough, our reflection was perfectly immobile, just breathing at a different pace from mine and looking confused, its yellow eyes locked on us… Wait, yellow eyes?

“Huh, Verso?”
“Hey, why does our reflection only has your eyes? And why is your voice so strange?” our reflection said.
Oh, that’s new. Our image just moved and talked. And it had Verso’s features.
“And why can’t I access your thought process? Is your mind just bland when you don’t answer to me?”
“What? No!” I giggled, slowly understanding what was happening. And it seemed Verso did too, because we both exclaimed at the same moment:
“You’re/I’m in the mirror!”

Mister Discord laughter intensified and I started to laugh with him. Verso wasn’t pleased, though.

“What the *buy some apples* have you done you *buy some apples* *buy some apples*? Why am I in a *buy some apples* mirror? I’m going to *buy some apples* while I *buy some apples* and *buy some apples* with a pig!”
“And why does he keep insisting that we should purchase fruits?” Luna said.
“I don’t know,” I said, still laughing. “But it’s hilarious!”

Verso growled, furious and his reflection stood up. He looked around him and locked his glare on mister Discord.

“You start explaining right *buy some apples* now or I will...”
“Okay, okay, hold your horses and stop whinnying,” mister Discord told him with a grin. Verso seemingly growled in pain for some reason, when I found the puns rather clever. Mister Discord coughed a little and caught back everyone attention. “Where were we…? Oh yes, the presentations.”

He snapped his talon, and the room was plunged into darkness. Then, a projector’s light coming out of nowhere fell on the white unicorn. Mister Discord’s voice came from everywhere around us, slightly deformed, as if he was using speakers.

“In the right corner of the conversation comes…”
“Will you *buy some apples* do something normally for once?!” Verso interrupted. “I’m *buy some apples* tired of all this *buy some apples* nonsense!”
“He is right, Discord,” Celestia said. “Could we please move the conversation forward?”

The projector’s light flickered for a second and died out, the normal lighting of the room coming back a few heartbeats later. Mister Discord stood next to me with the sorrowful expression of a child who just lost his candy.

“Party poopers…” he whispered just loud enough for me to hear.
“I thought it was funny,” I told him, giggling. It was the most fun I had in… Ever!
“At least one of you four have some taste,” he said disdainful. “Well, here we go. Recto, Verso, meet Celestia -” he indicated the white unicorn “- and Luna,” he showed the darker one. “Tia, Lulu, this funny little guy here is Recto -” he designated me and I waved happily “- and the grumpy guy over there is Verso,” he finished, pointing at the mirror, where Verso stood with a furious glare.
Celestia smiled gently to us. “Luna and I are happy to meet you, Recto and Verso,” she said with a warm voice. How can a voice be warm, by the way?
“We are indeed,” Luna confirmed, not letting me dwell any further on the subject. “But I’m not sure I understand what you are. Does one of you live in mirrors?” she asked I laughed again at the idea.
“No, we share the same body,” Verso answered while I was having troubles breathing. “But this *buy some apples* of an animalistic *buy some apples* here somehow trapped me in this mirror.”
“Well, obviously, we had to find a way to talk with you, and you can’t take Recto’s place for the moment,” mister Discord explained. “So I figured that using something to show your other mindset would be a good idea.”
“Oh, *buy some apples* yeah, that’s right, I’m also trapped inside our own body, I didn’t *buy some apples* remember!” he shouted, clearly angry. For my part, I was mostly snickering at his new tic.
“Well, I’ll start explaining right away. You see, this world doesn’t exactly follow the same rules yours did. And one of them hurt you at your arrival and prevents you from exchanging position with your friend for the moment.”
“What?!”
“I’m not sure I understand,” Luna said, “what are these rules you speakest of?”

I glanced at the darker unicorn, not exactly certain I understood her words. ‘Speakest’? That’s a real word?

“To simplify, our friends here come from a world devoid of any kind of magic.” The two unicorns gasped and looked at him wide-eyed.
“How is that possible?” Celestia wondered. “Nothing is deprived of magic!”
“First of all,” mister Discord countered, “he isn’t ‘deprived’ at all. And that’s the rules I was talking about: his universe doesn’t work exactly the same way it works here.”
“So there’s magic here?” I asked, filled with glee. “Like, real magic?”
Mister Discord winked at me. “You shouldn’t be so surprised; you were using it back on Earth anyway. How did you think you can float things around?”
“Psychic-powers, like in the comics,” I replied, still bursting with excitement. I’m in a world with real magic! Like, everywhere! And I’m also magical! This was definitely the best. Day. Ever!
“Wouldn’t work for real in your universe,” mister Discord affirmed, waving my explanation away.
“Magic wouldn’t either,” Verso countered. “So, how were we able to do it anyway?”
Mister Discord glanced at him and snorted. “I don’t think I would teach you something new by telling you that you are a special case, would I?” Verso both paled and scowled at the same time. “Let’s just say you had a way to connect yourself to a pretty good energy source. And that’s precisely why you were hurt so much when you arrived, and I also believe it’s also why you can’t take the control of your body for the moment being. I may have been able to prevent the first thing, by the way. Here’s for the trouble.”

He snapped his claw and a glass filled with chocolate milk appeared next to me. I beamed and drank it greedily.

“Apology accepted for another one!” I rang. Mister Discord snapped a claw and granted my wish to epic proportions, making a fountain of the delicious liquid of heaven mortals knew as chocolate milk and I nearly drooled.

I stopped listening to them. My gaze was frozen on the most beautiful thing that could exist. All this chocolate milk! A glance at the glass mister Discord gave me was enough for me to decide it wouldn’t be enough for my burning desire of drinking this this marvelous liquid. But I had a much better idea.

“Don’t even hope that it will make me forgive you. And I still don’t know what rule we actually angered.”
“Of course, I knew you wouldn’t be convinced by this.”
“Oh, and get my head out of the fountain before Recto successfully drowns us.”
“What?”

*SPLASH!*

Paradise is a brown liquid place! I felt a hand catch our shirt and yanked me backward, leaving me alone with this flavorless air instead of sweet wonderful chocolate.
Or saving me from suffocating in the most beautiful of deaths. In hindsight, maybe this wasn’t such a great idea.

“Recto, if you could please try and not kill us when I cannot physically prevent you from doing it, I would really appreciate it,” Verso told me.
“S-Sorry, it’s just that it looked so… nice…”

I was soon captivated again by this heavenly sight and gasped when it suddenly disappeared, replaced by a strange nearly empty hourglass reaching well above my head. Upon further inspection, I discovered a pierced card of cardboard separated the top and bottom parts, that the top part had just a few liters of sweet liquid deliciousness within, filtered slowly by the card. Oh, and the bottom part had a little faucet, that would probably let me get some beverage.

“What is that, now?” I heard Luna asking.

Mister Discord appeared in flash next to the hourglass, wearing big glasses and a lab coat. And he spoke with what I recognized to be a thick german accent.

“‘Zat’ as you call it, iz zee pest reprezentasion of our guest’s proplem. Now, iff eferypony could pleaze shtayen quiet during zee explanation, I vould appreciaten it.”

A ruler appeared in his paw and he used it to point at several parts of the hourglass.

“Zee top-part off zee experiment iz here to reprezent zee amount off magical energy afailable to zee test subject, fisualized vith zee chocolate-milk. Pack in hiz vorld, he couldn’t access much, due to a process far too complicated for me to explain to you.”
“Are you referring to us as ‘experiments’?” Verso growled.
“Nein, nein, nein! Zee hourglass iz zee experiment! I am takink you az example! Now, payen sie das attention! Az I vas sayink, the bottom-part iz here to reprezent hiss potential. In orter to get az much magic az possible, he pecame a potentially huge magical reserfoir, dragink zee energy in hiss surrounding.”
“I think I’m starting to understand,” Celestia remarked. “I figure the faucet represents his spells?”
“Gut, gut! It can pe explained zis way, ant it iz also a vay for jung Recto to get hiss chocolate.”
“Yeah, but nothing is coming out right now!” I whined.
“Later, later,” mister Discord dismissed. “Ant zee final part off zee experiment iz zee cartpoart, zat reprezents hiss poty filterink the flow. In hiss vorld, it vorked fairly vell.”

Mister Discord snapped a talon and the flow of sweet sweet deliciousness accelerated, slowly filling the bottom and reaching the faucet. I squeed when the first few drops started to came out, salivating in anticipation. But it was still a lot too slow.

“Could you please make it go faster?” I inquired.
“Ja, ja. Just vait a moment.” He closed the faucet and turned back to the others while I sipped slowly what little beverage I had. “Zat iz pretty much how it vorked on Earth. But here, it vorks like zis.”

Mister Discord snapped a claw and the top-part was suddenly filled to the brim with chocolate, making me drool again. The sudden change of pressure exerted on the cardboard seemed to be too much and it promptly snapped, letting a huge flow of chocolate enter the bottom of the hourglass.
I think Verso shivered in comprehension.

“So you mean to say that, because this world is full of magic and because of our great potential, the magical void we are dragged so much energy inside us that it nearly killed us?”

Mister Discord returned to his ‘normal’ appearance and nodded.

“In fact, it would have killed you if I had realized what was happening too late. I used my magic to prevent your body from breaking, but we all know it wasn’t a pleasant experience.”
“Hey!” I called. “The faucet doesn’t want to open!”

They didn’t answer me and continued to have their boring serious discussion. I humphed and got a closer look at the faucet. Maybe I could use magic to turn it instead?

“But now, we’ve adapted sufficiently to survive the magic, didn’t we? So why can’t I go in front?”
“The way I understand it, it’s because of your difference with Recto.”
“I’m guessing you mean…”
“Yes. You’ve told me that you are more powerful with your powers than he is, and I think your potential is too much for your body to handle for the moment. It’ll adapt with time, eventually.”
“Your powers vary with the personality in command?” Luna asked in an oddly ghastly voice.
“I suppose you can say it like that, but I always thought we had the same potential and that I was just more… tuned with it. To know that each of us has a different natural level of power is a… disturbing idea.” Verso's oddly grave tone replied.

Yes… Yes… The faucet is still fighting against my mental grip, but I think it will move soon. I just have to concentrate a bit more, just like Verso does. I close our eyes and feel the metal mechanism in my grasp. I just have to turn the…

“What is he doing? Why are our hands surrounded in a blue aura?”
“Well, that's because he is using magic of course,” Mister Discord replied. “Here, the magical aura can be seen around the objects emitting and receiving the flow.”
“And what spell is he doing?” Celestia wondered.
“We only know a few techniques, like…”

*CLANK*

The faucet was crushed in my grasp, breaking it and fissuring the hourglass. I looked at the metallic ball I was now levitating and glanced at the flow of delicious beverage now escaping the hourglass. I shrugged and let the ball go to grab the glass that shattered immediately. Another glance at the glass shard ball and at the flow of chocolate made me frown. How exactly did that happen?
I heard someone face-palming behind me and ignored it, in favor of just kneeling and using my hands to drink as much of it as I could. So you can guess that I was really disturbed when it all disappeared.

“Are you okay? No glass shard anywhere?” Verso asked.
“Where did all he chocolate go?” I whispered.
“I think I’m mostly done here. I’ll go back inside our head to monitor these ideas a bit. Recto will talk for me.”

I heard mister Discord snapping his claw and felt a pinch inside our skull. I could feel Verso was back fully in our head. Huh, thinking that aloud, it suddenly makes me understand why people thought I was crazy back on Earth.

Nah, crazy people hear voices in their head that tell them to do things.
A bit like you, then?
Don’t be like that, I don’t tell you to do stuff, I usually do it myself. Now, stand up and ask Discord for a new set of clothes. Jumping in the chocolate wasn’t such a good idea.

I didn’t even have to ask and mister Discord magically changed our clothes and recolored them with a chaotic set of colors, mixing pink and yellow with brown and electric blue.
It’s so great! So much color! We didn’t have so many colors on Earth, just black and white and every shade of grey in between! Luna and Celestia looked at us with a mix of surprise and… and by their looks, I could guess it probably wasn’t that beautiful. But Celestia was smirking!

“Wow, thank you! With that and the chocolate milk, both Verso and I forgive you completely!”
What? No I don’t…
“We totally forgive you!” I repeated with my biggest smile.
“Well that’s nice of you, Recto,” Mister Discord replied. “But my apology isn’t finished yet. You still have to live in this place.”

I was about to repeat myself again when I heard our stomach growling loudly in a hunger neither Verso nor I had even noticed, surprisingly. I thought we ate just a few hours ago? Verso’s lesson and research through the Institute database must have lasted longer than I thought.
Celestia smiled at us warmly – seriously, how does a unicorn even do that? – and got closer.

“I think we can continue this discussion during breakfast. Would you join us, Recto?”
“Well, my tummy sure wants to and I’m not one to disagree with him.”
The unicorn smiled again and wrapped her left wing around us to turn us toward the door and… wait a minute here…

Since when do unicorns have wings? I wondered. They aren’t supposed to!
Well, they aren’t supposed to exist either, so…

I thought about it for a second and glanced at Luna, who I understood now, also had wings where I thought it wore feathery ornaments. It actually makes a lot more sense that these were wings. What kind of horse would wear feathers? Well, probably the kind of horse that has a horn, a magically flowing mane and wore jewelry, but come on. And I had a pretty important question to ask, now.

“By the way,” I started, “I suppose mister Discord told you we are a human, but what are you?”
“Oh, it slipped my mind. Luna and I are ponies, alicorns to be more precise.” Ah! I knew they couldn’t be unicorns! But that didn’t answer my question as I wanted to though… “We will explain it to you during our meal,” she continued.
“Okay, okay, but that’s not what I meant,” I replied as we crossed the doors.

Oh no, don’t tell me you are going to…

“Are you a boy or a girl?”

Celestia froze and looked at us wide-eyed, mouth ajar. Luna and mister Discord were staring at me pretty much the same way and a group of smaller white ponies wearing golden roman-like armors were both astonished and perplex.
Total silence reigned over the corridor for a few seconds, the time mister Discord recovered and started snickering first, before he started to downright convulse in laughter on the floor, soon joined Luna while Celestia’s coat slowly turned redder and redder every second.
Verso sighed.

This is going to be a very long day…

Chapter 4: The Beauty of a Sun

You wouldn't believe it unless I told you, and since you are kinda obligated to believe me by reading these, because I seriously doubt you would ever see me for real, so I'm going to be straightforward: I was right all along! My first assumption that Celestia and Luna were females by comparing their voices with the few women we came across was exact! Truly, I am one of the greater minds of this world.

I still don’t understand how Celestia managed to blush with a fur coat, by the way.

On the way to the breakfast room, Luna snickered now and then when I stayed mostly silent, observing in awe the superb setting of this place: everything was lit via some strange screens made to look like ancient stain glasses, the colorful lights of the scenes depicted of these pictures giving a warm tone to the otherwise white walls, richly decorated with more pictures and small statues.

Mister Discord left us alone to deal with a matter involving ‘noodly appendages’ as he said, not that he explained too much, so I was left with Verso and the two alicorns. And their numerous amount of guards.

That was the funniest part: the two big horses were supposed to be protected by tiny ponies wearing armors I could probably bend with our hands. I discovered there were at least two kinds of guards, each subdivided in three different types of ponies.

The first ones had a white coat and wore golden armors, just like the two ponies waiting at the door earlier. The other ones had a much grayer coat, were wearing purple of dark blue armors and had golden cat-like eyes and strange, bat-like ears. They somehow also looked a lot more tired than their lighter comrades.

The two guard corps were divided between three races of ponies: the plain old nearly normal ponies, the unicorns –real ones this time– and winged ponies, or pegasi for the golden armored ones and bat-ponies for the darker kind.

Well, Verso noticed all that. I was mostly occupied by a question of the utmost importance: What do ponies eat for breakfast? Here’s hoping it’s not just hay. I don’t think humans digest it very well.

We finally arrived to a rather big room with a huge three-dimensional screen covering an entire wall, depicting a beautiful garden and a colorful sunrise that turned the sky orange. The realism of this scene really took us both by surprise, and they had to put some kind of magic in there because the rays of light coming from the screen were warm and comforting. I stared at it for a moment, stopped in admiration.

There was a ‘sun room’ back in the Institute, a giant room made to mimic the outside world as much as we could, with fake holo-trees and a gigantic curved screen supposed to imitate the sky, both during the night and the day.

We had been allowed there a few times and I always looked forward such escapades that broke our otherwise somewhat monotonous life-style, but it had nothing in comparison to their probably magical screen.

Another growl from our stomach reminded me why we came here for the first place: breakfast. And maybe even a real one, without this simili food they always gave us back home.

Both Celestia and Luna had already sat down on cushions around a small table, whispering to each other, with Luna’s gaze not leaving us for more than a blink. Okay, even I had to admit, it was beginning to get a bit creepy: she was staring at us since mister Discord had explained that Verso was a better magician than me by nature, except when she was laughing on the floor with him earlier.

I walked to another cushion and sat, interrupting their quiet discussion. Celestia smiled warmly again – I swear, seeing a horse smiling like that is strange – and announced the bad news.

“The food should arrive shortly, there had been a bit of trouble going on in the kitchens this morning. While we are waiting, why don’t you tell us more about your home? Discord has been very vague about it.”
“Well, there isn’t much to say. We mostly lived in the same room for as long as I can remember. People didn’t talk that much and Verso followed most classes in my stead. There were some funny books and we often played cat and mouse with the guards and Verso tried to reach for the elevator to the outside of the Institute monthly. That’s about it.”

They glanced at each other, visibly disturbed.

“You lived in an Institute?” Luna asked and I nodded.
“Yep. For most our life and for as long as I can remember.”
“How old are you, if that’s not too much to ask?”
“Well, we had twelve birthdays at the Institute, but Verso says we’re eighteen,” I smiled. “We reached majority a few months ago. They gave us a bottle of strange grape juice to celebrate, and we even had a cake this time!”

Another shared glance and back to us.

“How did your world looked like?” Celestia asked, changing the subject a bit.
“Well, from what the reports said, it was mostly gray. They said the rain still hadn’t washed away all the ashes and that it was still too irradiated to get outside. I believe it was still a bit cold. You would think it would have mostly cleaned off after a century, but it still hasn’t.”

Actually, Recto, it mostly has. It’s still a bit cold and overly irradiated around where we lived, but some other parts of the planet probably were fit to live.

I would have corrected myself, but both alicorns were looking at me as if I just said something horrible, like ‘bacon tastes horrible’. Though, as they were probably herbivores, it would probably be horrible for them.

“From what kind of Hell do you come from?” Luna whispered, flabbergasted.
“Luna!” Celestia exclaimed. “That is hardly…”
“Nah, I understand what she meant and we mostly approved,” I intervened, giggling at their reaction.
And I guess it’s well deserved, seeing as Humanity did that to itself.

I repeated his remark and they now seemed curious and a bit taken aback.

“What do you mean you brought that upon yourselves?” Celestia shuddered, slightly less comfortable than her sister.
“Well, we started a global war and some idiot thought it would be a good idea to bring about the nukes,” I said for Verso.
“What are ‘nukes’?” Asked Luna, a bit more interested by the subject. “And you also used the word ‘irradiated’ earlier. What do these words mean?”
“Well, ‘nuke’ is a slang term referring to some of the most powerful weapons humans ever designed, called a ‘nuclear bomb’,” Verso explained through me.
“Think of it as a really, really big fireworks," I added.
“You mean like magic missiles?”
“Uh… Dunno, what are those?” I asked, tilting our head.
“A spell used to create controlled and beautiful explosions up to a few hundred meters away from the caster.”
“Then yeah, like ‘magic missiles’.”
“And irradiation is a side-effect of some of those bombs: basically, it poisons the air and the environment for an extended period of time.”
“That sounds horrible!” Celestia said.
“It is. I’m rather glad we weren’t born yet during the Swan Song.”
“The ‘Swan Song’?” Luna inquired.
“Yep. That’s how we call the global thermonuclear war where we come from. I don’t know where the expression comes from, though…”
“I do. It is rumored that swans – you have those, right? ” he was rather surprised by their nod but continued anyway: “At the verge of death, swans are rumored to put out their most beautiful song that will end only with their life. So some poetic minds amongst the survivors called the wreck ‘Humanity’s Swan Song’, as it was our greatest act right before we were wiped out. Kinda changed the world forever, after all.”

They stayed silent for a few seconds and shared a few glances once again. I don’t really know why, but Celestia seemed rather nervous, where Luna looked a bit worried. Alicorns sure are weird.

I heard doors opening and watch in wonder when a small group of unicorns levitated trays and trays probably covered in the delicious food we were discovering since our encounter with mister Discord. I wasn’t let down: lots and lots of strange but good-smelling things were being carried to us.

I recognized some of them with our memories of the database: eggs, croissants, toasts… A lot of those dishes disappeared a long time before we were born, but were normal breakfast material before the Song.

That’s not logical! Verso whined. How come sentient horses in another universe speak English and have the same recipe as the humans? And why do they eat freaking eggs? Horses are herbivores!
Don’t go and jinx it! And I’ll soon be too occupied trying to make our stomach explode to answer, by the way…
… I’m not even sure I would do better if I was out there…

To say I was drooling would be an understatement. I didn’t even know smells could be so strong! Luna looked at me a bit more worried, even if I could see a spark of amusement in her eyes.

“Are you alright?” she asked when the unicorns departed.

I didn’t answer, our eyes were darting all over the table and I was trying to decide whether or not we died when we arrived here or were simply sent into a coma and it was all a dream. I raised a trembling hand to grab a toast and just looked at it for a while.

“There is only one word that can describe where we landed,” I told to no one.
“And it is?”
“WE’RE IN HEAVEN!” I shouted at the top of our lungs before taking a bite out of the bread.

Oh gosh… So much taste! Nearly better than the cookies!
Try to put some of the yellow jar on our right on it.
What is it? I asked while I grabbed it and search for a spoon.
Use the wooden thing next to it. And I believe it is honey.

I gasped, nearly choked on bread crumbles, swallowed and asked confirmation from our two hoofed hosts. Their nod was enough to make me hurry and catch the honey dripper to pour some of the sticky golden liquid on the bread and bit it again.

I’ll stop describing my eating process during the following minutes, both because Verso says it is mostly boring for everyone except for the two of us and because the pony maids still tell stories about it with a sense of horror. Let’s just say that Verso had to stop me before I successfully burst our stomach open.

The two alicorns looked at us ajar for a while and stayed absolutely silent until the end, Celestia sipping a cup of tea – the normal way, not mister Discord’s – and Luna munching another pastry. Then, when Verso advised me to stop, Celestia smiled again.

“You are something, aren’t you? It looks like you never ate before today.”
“Kinda never did,” I replied, not feeling so well. “Not real food – oh gosh…”
“What do you mean?”
“We didn’t have access to lots of things, and that includes real food. Chemists recreated artificial nutrients, but we had what we needed, not anything with a good taste.”

She tilted her head, and Verso continued:

“We lived in a destroyed world where most life forms had vanished. You don’t seriously think we had water to use watering fruit trees when we could survive without them? Honestly, I’m still amazed Haven even survived for so long. Glad some big companies were run by conspiracy theorists…”
“’Haven’?”
“The name of the ‘city’ we lived in. Well, more like the Institute was situated nearby. Or in it, I don’t really know.”
“You come from a very, very dark world, Recto.”
“Nah, it was well lit. Light bulbs everywhere!”
“What is a light bulb?” Luna asked.
“A new device designed to produce light, Luna. I’m sure you noticed them, they aren’t used everywhere, but still,” Celestia answered.

I looked at them, surprised. Verso was downright shocked. Light bulbs are new here? I thought that was how cavemen lit their caves!

“A ‘new device’? ” Verso asked. “Light bulbs are a novelty in your world?”
“Why, yes, a stallion named Bright Idea invented them just a decade ago.”
“A decade is not ‘new’” I countered.

For such technology, yes it is. I’m… Wait, they invented light bulbs ten years ago?
That’s what she said.
So how could they build a screen with a displaying technology better than the ones the Institute used?!

I stared at the ‘screen’. A pony was watering flowers in the simulation, and the sky was abandoning it orange hue and turning bluer. It was so realist it even distorted light a bit a created a few rainbow rays on the ground and wall.

“Say, how does this screen even work, if you invented light bulbs ten years ago?” I asked slowly, pointing at the object of our questioning.
“What is a ‘screen’?” Celestia replied. “And it’s only a window."

Now, I may be a bit naïve, or sometimes slow to understand things, but even I understood the implications of this question. Mainly, that it was wasn’t a screen and that I wasn’t watching a video. I noticed a door situated next to the ‘window’ and got up, ignoring the disapproving message of our stomach. I ran to the door before anything could stop us and threw it open.

I felt a fresh airstream caressing our face, and warm rays heating our skin. I smelt odors I didn’t think existed for real and heard birds chirping. I saw a small garden with trees and grass. The sun was shining beautifully in the sky over white buildings, and the clouds moved lazily in the heavens.

We, Recto and Verso, were outside. And it was so much more beautiful than anything I could have expected.

Both our souls stayed still, basking it the sun’s rays, frozen in awe of the absolute beauty displayed before our eyes. I think I fell on our knees at some point, because that's how we were positioned when Celestia put a hoof on our shoulder. I didn’t think anything of it. Verso didn’t think anything of it. Probably because we weren’t thinking at all.

“Recto, are you okay?” the white alicorn asked, somewhat breaking the spell. “You’ve been silent for five minutes already.”
“Re-Really?” I sniffed. I felt something wet on our face.
“Yes, you just rushed for the door, opened it and fell to your knees before starting to cry silently.”
“Oh…” Well, mystery solved. I rubbed our eyes, wiped our tears and sat back, still looking at the single most beautiful thing we had ever witnessed. “I’m sorry, it’s just…”
“You don’t have to be.”

I stayed silent for another minute and asked:

“Can we… Can we continue outside, please?”
“Of course.”

I stood up and looked at the ground. One step. One step was all that separated us from being completely outside. Just one simple step, and we would be walking on the natural ground, and not in a building. No human had done it for a century.

You know what they say. ‘A small step for a man…' Verso said, breaking his own silence.

I breathed in deeply and made the giant leap.

Author's Note

Woohoo! Another chapter! Should I call it the fourth one because it says so at the beginning or is it the fifth if I take the prologue into account? That's a question begging to be answered, but, meh.

Please help my severe case of bad english by pointing out the errors so that I can correct them. And tell me what you think about it, guys!

Chapter 6: Dissociative Identity Disorder

A red light exploded at the border of our sight, but Verso ignored it completely. Even though I wasn't actively connected to our body, I could feel through our mutual connection that he was in a terrible pain, our nervous system completely overloaded by the sudden energy influx. Never before had I ever felt so much energy inside our body, actively consumming us.

He wasn't paying even the slightest bit of attention to what was probably a rather bad feeling.

Our hands lit brightly in his newly acquired yellowish aura, effectively shining bright enough to cover the other red light, and a strange pulse emanated from us. Celestia's horn lit in a pretty golden aura, creating a bright force-field around Luna and herself. She did right, as the three guards didn't react in time and screamed in pain before passing out the instant the yellow pulse touched them. The pulse continued moving far behind the alicorns and mister Discord was left with smoke coming out of his ears, dissipating only fifty meters away from us.

It took me a second to recognize the spell he used to be his sensory-field. I didn't know it could have such effects! I hope mine didn't hurt anybody back home... Back to Verso, he seemed slightly relieved of part of the pain our body was currently experiencing, but his rage was still clouding his mind. With extreme difficulty, he stepped forward.

"How dare you to even think that I am the result of a... an illness, you freakishly difformed horse!" he growled. "Come and see what the 'infection' thinks about it!"
"Verso, please, calm down! This isn't what you think it is!" Celestia called through her glittering shield. So shiny~
"This is exactly what it thinks, Celestia!" Luna grunted, her horn glowing in a turquoise aura.

She exploded in light and I gasped, worried, until another flash of light on our right reassured me when we saw her reappearing next to it, an angry snarl on her face.

"It knows that I am right and is trying to escape while it still can!" she continued. "It is showing us its true face!"

If it was even possible, Verso's anger went up another level. He roared again and expanded his telekinesis to try and catch her, but she somehow evaded it. A ball of light formed at the top of her horn and a bright beam shot out of it toward us, hitting us in the chest and sending us to encounter a tree behind us. I heard creaks with our ears and winced at the probable surge of pain Verso was probably experiencing.

Verso coughed blood and our vision blurred a bit. He put a hand on our ribs and tried to use his magic to move them back into place, but only succeeded in breaking them further with his overpowered grip. He screamed in pain before coughing more blood. He hesitantly got up and turned his bloodshot eyes to the blue alicorn.

He emitted another pulse, a spell I didn't recognize immediately, and Luna was hit unprotected this time. Verso's yellowish magical glow surrounded her and I felt him doing something with this strange spell. It kinda looked like the time when he used our powers to spook a couple of guards into unconsciousness. Yes, he told me he played with their senses a bit, showing them halloween-themed hallucinations. he said it was very complicated and that he wouldn't teach it to me.

She backed away, confused, fear in her eyes for a second, quickly replaced with good ol' anger and determination. Her horn flickered and her blue aura surrounded her for a blink of an eye, pushing against Verso's yellow magic glow, that was soon disbended. He gritted our teeth.

"You... You cockroach! I won't die! Not again!" he shouted for some reason. That's a pretty strange sentence.
"I will free Recto from you!" she replied, shooting another beam at us.

This time, though, Verso stepped quickly enough to evade it and extended a hand, a energy ball similar to Luna's forming in his palm. With another roar - he tends to do that often when he is angry, doesn't he? - he shot his own yellowish ray to the alicorn, wich she blocked by creating her own glittering shield.

This is starting to look like an anime battle.

Verso continued to shoot beam after beam at the fairy godmother, each ray getting more powerful. When he realized that it wasn't going anywhere, he instead levitated the tree we had been sent against, effectively crushing it into a wooden ball covered in terribly painful splinters, and hurled it against her shield with all of his might. The shield broke and a wide-eyed blue winged unicorn encountered mister Oak - hehe... - when she was hit and sent a few meters further.

This was getting out of hand.

Verso, I don't think I like this game. I said. You're getting hurt and you're probably hurting her too.
This is not the time for that, Recto! He nearly mentally shouted back. This is not a game!
Oh. I guess it makes a lot more sense. But why are you fighting with her?

I think he stopped thinking or feeling pain for a heartbeat.

Are you serious?! He definetely shouted back mentally, sounding hurt. She... She thinks I'm controlling you, that I am a disease!
Okay, she was pretty mean, but you look like you are trying to hurt each other really bad. Maybe you could...

I was interrupted as Luna shot out in the sky, enraged, her eyes glowing in white light.

"ENOUGH!" she shouted, her voice deformed the volume of her voice. "I am Luna, Princess of the Night! Ruler of the Dreams! I won't be defeated by the likes of you, scrounger!"

As she was talking, thunderclouds were accumulating above her, darkening the sky. Verso inexplicably shivered when the thunder roared a few times, his burning rage momentarily replaced by his freazing fear. It came back soon enough though.

"I don't care who you think you are!" he shouted back. "You have no right to treat me as a parasite!"

He moved both our hands to face her and created a much bigger energy ball than he had before, putting more and more energy into it every second, succesfully draining out his magical overload into what was to be a very powerful attack. Luna, on her side, was tracing strange circles covered with runes, floating in the air. Whatever they were, it probably wasn't anything good for us.

Verso's magical ball reached some kind of critical mass and fired a yellow beam at least as large as we were tall to the... wait a minute, did she say she was a princess? Well that changes everything!

Either way, Luna's runic circles shone brightly and created what looked like a true rain of cyan beams, all aimed at us. We were definetely in an anime battle. Cool!

Verso's gigantic beam was about to encounter Luna's rain of magic when a golden screen appeared out of nowhere and deviated Verso's attack, sending it getting lost in the sky. That alone would have been a pretty bad news, as it left us mostly alone in front of an impending shiny doom, but Luna's attack was unexpectedly turned into a flight of chickens.

Well, that's convenient.

Celestia landed heavily in front of us, her horn glowing and her eyes disapproving. I kinda missed the warm smile during that particular moment. She opened her mouth to say something, but our brain suddenly told Verso he wasn't very approving of his latest actions by turning off in protest for the terrible treatment he was the tiniest bit responsible for.

I kinda hope someone caught us before we hit the ground like a bag of potatoes.

Gosh the grass is comfortable, I first thought when we 'went back online', with me on the commands.
What happened? Verso kinda panicked. Where are we? Is that blue witch near us?
To quote someone I know pretty well, you do realize I've there for as long as you've been, don't you?
Well, open our eyes to get the answers!

I did so and was awestruck by the most unexpected sight: branches! What a great discovery, when we remember falling uncounscious under a tree! Truly, opening our eyes did grant us the answers we needed! While Verso turned on his mute mode and started to scream insanities and bad words at the great everything, my genius mind decided to try and move a little, mainly sitting up.

Our ribs didn't agree with this decision. Like, at all.

"Argh!" I cried in pain. "That wasn't such a great idea..."
"He woke up!" Celestia's voice rang at our ears.

Her white horse head got in our sight field, hiding the beautiful branches, her features mixed between a worried and relieved expression. Her horn was still glowing and I suddenly realized a strange heat was entering our ribcage. But that wasn't what disturbed me.

"Why are you upside-down?" I asked.

She blinked.

"You do know you are currently lying on the ground, don't you?" she asked, confused.
"Hehe... Of course I know," I answered, trying to avoid her stare. "I was just... testing you." I glanced at her with my serious face on. "You passed."
"I'm beginning to think his brain also got hurt too, Discord," she said, glancing at something I couldn't see;
"Nah, that's just Recto being himself," mister Discord's voice replied.

His head popped above us. Alone. He smiled.

"Well, well, well, it seems your friend is pretty hot-blooded, isn't he? Can't say I blame him, I would be angry too if the first pony princess I crossed immediately thought that I was a dangerous monster that messes with minds and has great magical powers." I heard a muffled sound coming from somewhere. Mister Discord's grin deepened. "She'd be right, though, but that it just sounds so ominous, doesn't it?"

How long have we been asleep? What is Celestia doing? Where is that blue witch? Verso asked.
"Where are the chickens?" I voiced. "I remember seeing chickens."

Celestia glanced at mister Discord again, the same worried and interrogative stare as when she thought I had problem with our brain. What a ridiculous idea. The flying head winked at her and answered.

"About a minute, trying to keep your organs from failing, a meter away from us, sent to a friend," he said.
WHAT?!
"Oh..." I sighed, disapointed. "They looked like they were funny..."
"I wouldn't mind if you gave me a hoof on the 'failing organs' part, by the way, Discord!" a distressed Celestia said. "I know next to nothing of his anatomy and I cannot heal him!"
"Sounds bad," I nodded.
Heal us now! Verso over panicked voice shrieked.
"I don't know if I should, Verso," mister Discord mused. "You would probably just attack Luna on sight if I did that."
I won't! Heal us!
"He would," I said. "Probably without thinking twice."
Recto, this is no time for your nonsense! We're in serious danger!
"Well, it's not like I was lying. You're still angry at her, and you're mean when angry."
She is planning to kill me! She... She treats me as if...
"You still attacked first, didn't you? We could have told her she was wrong and simply continued learning about the outside if you didn't."
She wouldn't hear...
"And you hurt the guards too," I continued. "You didn't even apologize for that. Hurting people isn't funny."
I... I...

He screamed for no particular reason and cut off all our connections, isolating himself in a corner of our mind. I blinked for a moment, his near-absence being pretty strange for me. I glanced at mister Discord.

"I think I upset him. He won't come out for a moment." I stopped for a second, thinking. "Oh, and could you heal us, please? From what little I remember of our biology classes, organs are pretty important."

The flying head grinned and I heard his claw snapping... somewhere... and I was now standing up, wounds absent, ogans working, ribs obeying me and, more surprisingly, dressed with normal clothes. Which was kinda sad, because I liked our toga. And I had a lollipop in the hand! Yay!

Oh, and I was also standing next to a giant chewed-looking bubblegum that had Luna's head popping out of it, her mouth and horn covered in gum. I think she was glaring at me.

"Hi, Princess Luna," I said. "Sorry for your big fight with Verso. He was really angry that you insulted him like that." Her glare softened and she looked elsewhere. "I figure it was a pretty mean thing to say about him. He tends to be touchy about certain things. Like me being an airhead or him being, well, kinda mean with me, I guess..."

She was completely avoiding my eyes now. Maybe I was staring? Celestia walked next to her, still worried. How can someone be so worried all the time? Maybe it has something to do with her fairy godmother job? Was she Luna's godmother? That would make sense.

"Are you okay, little sister?" she asked.

Or that. Makes a bit more sense, in fact. She was a fairy sister? That doesn't even make sense! Or... Or maybe she was the queen, as she was the older sister of the princess? Nah, queens are evil, Celestia definetely isn't. Maybe another princess?

Luna nodded, avoiding her sister's eyes too. Celestia sighed in relief and her stare hardened a bit. She asked mister Discord to free her and poof! no more bubblegum, just a blue alicorn that was looking a little battered.

"Luna..." Celestia began.
"I know what I am talking about sister!" Luna interrupted her. "You saw how dangerous he is! Verso is..."
"Older than you can even imagine, princess," Discord intervened. What's up with everybody interrupting everybody? "And I can assure you no 'brain leech' existed around the time of their life on Earth. It may looks pretty much alike, but Verso isn't a manifestation of your so-called 'Nightmare'."
"That doesn't excuse him! He assaulted us first! He is still a dangerous being!"
"Luna!" Celestia hard tone stopped the smaller alicorn. "You threatened to destroy somepony that comes from what he described as some kind of Tartarus and was assured to be safe here!" Her voice and stare softened a bit. "He is afraid, little sister. That's all."
"Verso? Afraid?" I whispered. That doesn't sound like him at all. But since we were given that funny box, he had been a bit strange. And I definetely felt something that taste like fear a couple of times coming out of him...
"But..."
"Let me put it this way, princess," Discord said, slithering around her. Since when did he have his body back? "He is someone that was feared and rejected for most of his life because of his talents, that comes from another time and place, that is still hated for what he is even though he did nothing wrong. Ringing any bell, Princess Nightmare Moon?"
"Don't call me that way!" Luna shouted at him, furious. Was it some sort of nickname she didn't like?
"You are just more alike than what you thought, Princess Moon Butt," mister Discord concluded, making me giggle.

That's funny because she has a moon tatoo on her flank.

Luna looked a bit guilty, looking at the ground with intensity. She turned her back to us.

"I'll be in my bedroom. I..."

She didn't finish and exploded in light again, probably teleporting like she did before. I hope. Celestia sighed again and turned to face me, staring into oblivion. Her eyes slowly focused on me, still thoughtful.

"Is your friend listening?" she asked. I shook my head.
"He is still upset and retreated away from our senses. I think he is trying to sleep."
She stayed silent for a second before continuing. "Luna is right on certain aspects, Recto." I tilted our head. "Verso is dangerous, and even though Luna was being... uncouth, he still attacked first, as you stated yourself. He is currently guilty of assaulting royalty, Recto.'
"And that's... not a good thing, is it?" I asked.
"It is supposedly one of the greatest crimes in Equestria's law, usually punished by long-term imprisonment or banishment."

I whistled, impressed. Well, Verso got us into trouble rather efficiently. I knew he had it in himself.

"Oh, give him a break, Celestia. We both know you won't act on it," mister Discord said, appearing on her right shoulder, small and dressed like an angel.
"Oh, but you are worried about such a dangerous being escaping punishment so easily, aren't you?" another small mister Discord said, poping on her left shoulder, wearing fake little devil red horns and holding a... fork in his paw? "Who knows what he could do?"

The older princess glared at them.

"Enough, Discord." She stared back at me. "Such a behavior isn't acceptable, Recto. I know you come from a... dark place, but you are in Equestria now."
"Hey, I didn't do anything," I protested. "Verso took the commands by force, even though he was agonizing from the very instant he did. Chocolate overload and everything."
"I know, Recto, but I count on you to make him understand that he is in a safe place now. But if he acts that way again, I would have no choice but imprisoning you both. Do you understand that, Recto?"
"I'll tell him to stop being such a meanie." I smiled at her. "And he'll apologize to Luna. And to the guards. He knows I don't like it when he hurts people."

She stared into my eyes for a moment and smiled back, nodding. We started talking again, as I was curious about all these princessy titles Luna had shouted a bunch of minutes ago, and Celestia - wait, Princess Celestia - was working to wake the guards up.

This was definetely the best day ever.

"This is the worst day of my life..." I whined, curled in a corner of the room, eyes red from all the salty liquid that kept escaping them.

I shrieked as the thunder roared again, making the very room tremble in its fury. The lightning created terrifying shadows all over the place, as it always does. I braced myself a bit harder and resumed my crying session, as it looked like it was all I was worth anymore.

I failed. Not once, not twice, but three fucking times! I could have escaped from the Institute if I hadn't use so much energy eviscerating these guards right after we exitted our room! I shouldn't have panicked just because it... because it appeared in front of me outside of here! And, worst of everything, Recto was most likely disppointed in me now that I assaulted someone over something nobody could know how insulting it was to me!

Another roar of thunder, another shriek from me. I glanced briefly at the bed not so far from me to check if... No he was still asleep. I glared at the mind-shattering attrocity and its annoying silver lock in front of me. It was still covering the entire wall, as always. Why would it look like a small box outside of here? Well, I figure a gigantic door would be a lot harder to move around.

The chains rattled as I got up and limped to the bed. I always felt better next to it. Makes me remember why I don't give up and let him win. I sat next to it, my back resting against the somewhat fluffy mattress. The Gate was still in a corner of my sight field, but I didn't care anymore. It wasn't responsible for the last problem I had.

"You won't hold me back forever, traitor."

I shuddered and looked away from the door, placing my hands over my ears. I won't listen to him, never again. It always ended badly. I won't listen, I won't listen, I won't...

"Cower as you please, it doesn't change anything."
"I won't listen, I won't listen..." I started to recite, painful tears coming back in my eyes.
"Poor, poor kiddo, all alone in the dark. And our little friend isn't that much of a support, is he?"
"Shut up, shut up, shut up..."
"You get deeply affected by the insults of that blue horse and what does little brother do? He scolds you, as if you were wrong."
"Shut up... Stop talking..." I pleaded.
"You know what? It looks like he doesn't even care about you, when you get well out of your way for him."
"Stop... please..." I cried.
"Can you blame him? You're a monster after all. I wonder how he would react if he knew about your crimes? He would probably hate you."
"No... He wouldn't..."
"Yes he would. You lied so many, many times to him. And you betrayed his trust so much more."
"Shut up..."
"Maybe he doesn't even like you. You're both trapped inside the same body, it's not like he could get away from you."
"Shut up."
"After all, the horse was mostly right. You are nothing but a para..."
"Shut up!" I screamed.

The chains rattled, metal screeching against metal, howling like pack of starved hounds. The metallic racket reverberated across the room for far longer than it should have. Maybe the door was more ajar than I thought it was? It would make sense, as he so rarely talked that much in a row. But how?

I dawned upon me. Discord said we had a different potential with magic. Maybe... Maybe he got stronger too?

"Oh no, no, no..." I cried again. "Why?" I shouted. "Why can't I just beat you? I thought that me getting stronger would mean that I could win..." I sobbed. "But it looks like we're in more danger than ever... I'm sorry, Recto," I said, turning to face the sleeping form on the bed. "But I'll find a way to save us both. I promise"

Author's Note

Hey, told you I had another one in the starting blocks. I was hoping to release it yesterday though... I blame Spike.

Chapter 7: Pranks

I spent a great lot of time with the Princess and mister Discord, and I learned lots of thing about what we were allowed to do in Equestria. Mainly that we were 'Royal Guests' for the time being. Without Verso to focus on important things, I guess I missed a lot of important infos, but that's his fault for being grumpy.

Still, it meant that we were now living in a castle full of magical ponies and had direct contact with royalty. It sure changes from living alone with Verso in our room for years. Oh, and that we had guards protecting us. And guess what? The three ponies that Verso hurt more or less by accident were part of them! I'm not sure why I'm so about about it, though. Probably has to do with the fact that Verso still had to apologize to them.

They're fine, by the way. Apparently, the overloaded spell just kinda fried their nerves, making them feel just like my mindmate did for a moment. And that's pretty impressive, 'cause Verso stayed awake and could even fight a magical princess. Sometimes, I get the feeling that he is a bit OP, but that's just me.

Sadly, Princess Celestia had to leave us after lunch (daisiy sandwiches taste horrible, by the way. Who would have thought?), royal duties calling for her attention. I can't help but imagine her walking inside a war room to review the denfenses of the land, but I think that her sitting on a throne and waiting to hear a herd of whining ponies telling her to do their job is a better guess. Wow, that's pretty depressive. At least I hoped she doesn't have an even whinier nephew that was just insufferable and took every commoner from so far above he could very well be walking on the ceiling. But that's just me.

That left me alone with Discord and a few guards. Well, nothing could go wrong.

"I get the feeling they didn't like your joke all that much, mister Discord!" I informed the flying chimera as we were running away from the flocks of guards that were currently shouting at us with voices so high it looked like the very air they were breathing was filled with helium. Wich was the case, thanks to mister Discord. It still sounds so funny.
"Come back here!" an earth pony ordered with the funniest chipmunk voice.
"Oh, it's all in good fun, Recto," mister Discord told me. "We're having fun, they're doing something for once and nobody is getting hurt."
I considered his words while side-stepping to dodge a magic beam. "I dunno, they seem pretty convinced that they should at least pile-drive us if they get their hand, err... hoof on us."
"Where would be the fun without a bit of danger?" He asked before snapping his claw and covering the floor behind us with soap, a maneuver that earned him a collective frustration and surprised filled scream from our pursuers.

I heard a clatter of armor and saw one of the earth pony guards zip ahead of me, trying to stop his glide with all his might, and ultimately failing. I giggled and followed mister Discord through a hole filled with rainbows. I could comment on that, but it turns out there's just to much strange things happening around him to try and be logical. All that I know is that it closed behind us and that I heard several 'thumps' coming from inside the corridor.

We arrived in a garden filled with statues. What a strange place to find in the castle of a supposedly kind ruler; statues are creepy, everyone knows that. In the stories I've read, only evil witches that do evil spells during their evil night and always laugh with an evil laughter have those. They usually create them themselves, like some sort of Medusa and her petrifying stare. It dawned upon me that I still haddn't seen Celestia's right eye. Maybe she had a Medusa-like stare and turned people that displeased her into stone? I shook my head to get rid of this ridiculous idea.

"Oh, I spent so much time here, you know," mister Discord told me. "I had been too much of a jerk and got turned into a statue for a thousand years. Ah, good times."

Or maybe she does. Who knows?

"You were a statue?" I thought for a second, and remembered description of stone creatures with strange powers. "Are you a gargoyle?"
He glanced at me, surprised. "A gargoyle? You should listen to your Verso-buddy more often, he is closer to the reality with me being a 'chimera'. But I'm a draconequus."
I blinked. "'Draconequus'? What are those?"
"Draconequi at plural, youngin'. And there's only me, so don't bother searching for a lost civilisation of incredibly attractive demigods."
I blinked again. "Why is there a plural if there's only you? In fact, if you're the only one of your species, why did you even bother searching for a species name?"

He shuddered and glanced at me, dread in his eyes.

"I think it's good for you that you haven't encountered one of these crazy pony biologists that make sure that every living being has a place in the animal kingdom. Yet." He shivered again. How could he get cold on a sunny afternoon with all his fur? "And to think I chose this exact form just to mess with them..."

I would have inspected the issue further, but I was soon distracted by someone waking up loud enough to raise the deads.

Verso! You're back! You slept for hours!
I wasn't sleeping, he replied grouchly.
Yeah, you were pouting. His half of our mind went rather stormy on my remark, but I continued anyway. I have lots of things to tell you! I...
Wait a sec, I'll just...

Have you ever been tickled from the inside of your skull? If you haven't, you can't exactly understand how it felt when Verso skipped the briefing part and immediately went reading my memories instead. If you have... Well, you have strange pastimes. I giggled and waited for him to finish.

You do know there is no way in HELL that i'm ever apologizing to that blue witch, don't you?
Yes you will! I retorted. And you won't act all angry again because we will get in prison if you do.
Prison? Ah!He laughed darkly. I doubt the 'Princess' even begin to know a thing about imprisonment.
You'll still behave, right?

He hesitated a lot longer than he should have before answering.

... If it makes you happy, I will. I'll even accept Moon Butt's apology if you want, but I certainly won't even think about being sorry for what I did if she doesn't excuse herself first.
See? You can't be nearly nice to others when you try to!
"Am I interrupting something?" mister Discord interrupted.

I looked at him, suddenly reminded that he was there to begin with. Now that I think about it, the mere idea of forgeting that a levitating mismatch of animals with space and time warping powers was meters away from us would have been rather silly earlier this morning.

"Nah, I was just welcoming Verso back," I answered. "Say hello, Verso!"
Hello... Discord. Nice of you to entertain him all this time.
"Bah, it was fun. Now, tell me, do you like practical jokes?"

I think Verso grinned a bit. Wich was nice, because he rarely smiles at all, so even creepy grins are okay.

That I do. He stopped smiling and continued. But we have more pressing matters to attend, 'draconequus'. First...
"Here they are!" a chipmunk shouted.

We turned to see a group of guards running in our direction, their eyes furious and their nuzzles reddened, as if they had ran head first into a wall. Who does that?

"Well, I guess we should continue this conversation while running for our sake." A golden beam impacted the earth at his feet.
"Seems like a good idea," I nodded, before waving at the guards. "Heya! You know you have to catch us and not shoot us, don't you?"
"Immobilize them this instant!" a chipmunk-sounding fairly large earth pony ordered.

Every unicorn's horn in their group shined a bright golden light and a circular force-field appeared around us, encasing us in what would be an impass.

"Wow, magic is awesome!" I squeaked. "You think I can do something like that?" I wondered aloud and lit our hands with a blue aura.

I waved them around and waited for a shiny blue wall to appear and block the ponies before they reached us. And waited. And waited. And waited.

"Uh, how do you magic walls around?" I asked when I narrowly dodged a earth pony lunging for us.
You really thought you could create a spell so quickly? Two steps back and three left.

I followed his instructions and evaded a golden beam that his the guard that jumped for us, knocking him out.

"Well, you did!" I replied. "I never saw you sooting magical beams out of our hands before your fight with Luna!"
Channeling energy outward ins't that hard to figure out. She showed me we could do it, I did it, that's all.
"Well then, show me how to make a wall!" I asked ecstatic.
Well, I... Okay. Step forward and run left. And activate your sensory field.
I moved, but was still worried. "Are you sure I won't hurt them with it like yours did?"
Restrain your reach and get close to their shield.

I nodded and used my field. A blue pulse escaped us and fadded away about three meters away from us. I heard mister Discord cackling near-hysterically behind us and some guards yelled something about cotton candy clouds. I got to the base of the shield and felt our right arm go numb for seemingly no reason. Probably the effect of these beams one of the last unicorns not currently encased in a pink cloud was shooting at us.

They got us! Wait just a second...

I got a tickling sensation in our left eye, Verso's current one, while he was analyzing the magic that hit us.

I have an idea to get our arm back in control. And I think I also know how magical shields work now now. I could maybe create one...
"Great! Teach me!" I beamed.

Another brain-tickle and I had instructions printed into my mind. Now that I think about it, it seemed rather easy... I dispelled the paralysis spell that hit us just in time to use this arm to try and use our new shield spell. I waved it before us and poured energy into just like Verso theorized. I nearly exploded in glee when a blue shield came into existence about two meters away from us. In fact, I would probably have if it haddn't disappeared about a second after I created it.

"What happened?" I gasped. "I did it right, didn't I?"
You did great for a first one, but I think my idea of the conjuration may be faulty. Or it may have to constantly feed of your energy, I don't know. Well, at least you can create these for a second. Correctly used, it's more than enough.
"But I wanted to build a shiny house!" I pouted.
Well, I'm sorry, but we can't even create bubble here, so the house is a no go. We waited for a few seconds while the last unicorn was chased down by a red boar that got out of nowhere, before mister Discord snapped his claw and sent it somewhere. I'm growing tired of this, and I'd like to see if they have a library around here. Let me out so I can dispell their shield.

I nodded and waited for him to get the commands. He did so in a surprising way : the very instant he took control of our body, a flash of energy radiated outside of us and slightly burned the ground. Verso cracked our neck and glanced at the golden shield that was still standing.

Hey, what was that? I asked. You burned the grass!
Well, I'm sorry, but it was either releasing a lot of magic the very moment our energy pools switched or getting burned from the inside by it. I made my choice.

He emitted a pulse to create his own sense field and tapped on the magical shield, as if he feared it could zap us or something. When nothing happened, he rested our hand against it.

"I wonder if..." he thought aloud.

Tendrils of yellow magic appeared on the surface of the shield, quickly diffusing on a ever larger surface. The tendrils then... well, for a lack of a better word, 'vibrated' and the magical glowing bubble started crack like glass until it finally shattered. Verso contemplated his deeds for a few moments and shrugged.

"I sure hope this isn't their best protection spell, because if a novice like me can undo it so easily, I bet an army of cockroaches could destroy it simply by hitting their head against it."
"How... How did you do that?" a chipmunk yelled. Wait, that's probably a guard. Ow...

Verso turned to discover that, while he was busy destroying the shiny wall, mister Discord had encased every soldier in these pink fluffy cloud and a few of them were staring at us, aghast. Verso raised an eyebrow.

"How did I do what?" he asked. "And Discord, please, could you free them and change their voice back? I'm already in enough trouble as it is."
"Pff, you're no fun for somepony that says to like pranks," mister Discord groaned before freeing the ponies.
"How did you dispell the shield?" a unicorn inquired when they got back to their senses, a bit of... concern in his voice.
"I didn't. I don't know how it is created, how could I dispell it? I simply destroyed it."
"But, you're alone!" another guard remarked. "It usually takes several hours to a group of unicorns to destroy such shields!"
Verso tilted our head. "It does? Wow, you guys are either really, really weak in comparison with me, or you just don't have a practical mind. It's an orb made out of something pretty hard, but every structure has problems handling vibrations. Just had to create a mechanical resonance and here we are discussing basic architecture." The ponies seemed to be about to reply, but he interrupted them. "I have no time to waste giving all of you a lesson of mechanics. I know the three ponies that were with us earlier are here. Mind to come out of the crowd, please?"

Indeed, the three ponies glanced at each other for a second and carefully stepped forward. Verso stared at them for a few moments, gritting our teeth, and kneeld before them, getting to their height.

"I am deeply sorry for the... mishap that got you hurt earlier. I want to... apologize. The spell I used isn't meant to hurt anything, but my magical overload changed it a bit."

The three ponies glanced at each other, confused by Verso's sudden apology. The unicorn gritted his teeth.

"You knocked us out and attacked Princess Luna. I don't think apologies will be enough, sir."
"Well, I tried," Verso said, getting up again. "It's not like you would ever get anything else out of me anyway. Could you please indicate lead us to the nearest library?"
Hey! That's not how apologies work! I huffed while the three guards stared at us, perplex.
They refused it, their loss. Besides, I don't want to stay out much longer, care to take back the lead, please?

He left the commands and I got back on front. I sighed and smiled. Well, he apologized, that's a start. The royal pony guards were glancing at each other, unsure of what to do with Verso's total lack of social skills. I opened our mouth to repeat Verso's will a little bit more nicely when a ball of light exploded in front of us and revealed Princess Celestia, a midly annoyed glare that clashed with a badly hidden grin on her face. She glanced around and fixed her eyes on mister Discord, who started whistling innocently.

"Discord, as amusing as you think it may be, I have to ask you to change back the voice of the guards inside the palace. The Huffington Countess' announcement was... a bit too hig pitched for my tastes."
"Wait, you changed the other's voices too?" I snickered. "That must have sound great."
"Princess!" a guard called out as he kneeled before her. "We have a problem to report. The human's powers are..."
"I'm sorry to have to stop you, my little pony," Heh, that sounds like a funny toy line, "but your report will have to wait. I've come to escort our new guest to meet Princess Twilight Sparkle, who just arrived with her friends."

I tried. I tried really, really hard. I knew I shouldn't have, that it was offensive in every way and that it's not like she chose it herself. But I utterly failed from not bursting out with laughter when she pronounced the new Princess' name. I know I should probably be ashamed... but I was just laughing too hard to even care.

"'P... Princess Twilight Sparkle'? Buhahah! That's the funniest name I've ever heard!" I giggled. "'Princess Twilight Sparkle'. It sounds so... magnificent."
"I don't think I understand why you find it so funny, Verso," she said, raising an eye-brow with a perplex expression.
"Wait, you're serious? That's really her name?"

I resumed my laughing fit, tears starting to stream out of our eyes. It was stupid. It's not even that funny. But the incomprehension in Celestia's stare just threw me back again and again. When he decided that I was a lost cause, Verso replaced me on the front, at least until I cooled down. It must have looked strange for the others though: our body was stuck in a uncontrollable laughing fit and it suddenly stoped. The laughter didn't faze out, it just stopped existing. He stood upright and stared back at Celestia.

"I'm sorry for this. I'll just hold him off until he can speak again."

Celestia's stare changed from curious to hard. Anyone could see she wasn't particulary pleased with Verso.

"You're able to come out now?"
"Just vent off the overload and I'm fine. I'm kinda ashamed I didn't think of it before your sister and I came to blows with magical beams."
"Did Recto..."
"Yes. I've read his memories from the moment I... left him alone for a bit. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have acted like I did. I won't do it again. And I may even apologize to your sister, after she did it first."
"One would wonder why you show such disrespect for royalty, Verso," she nearly sighed.
"Where we come from, we usually behead nobility." He let that sink into the princess for a second, as if he enjoyed the mix of fear and disgust he could see in her eyes for an instant. "You could say that, for someone with my background, I'm rather respectuous."
"I don't like your tone, Verso," Celestia practically growled.
"And your mane gives me headaches," he grinned, failing to cheer up the mood. "Bear with it until you get accustomed to it. No matter how nice you are, you won't change me from 'afraid', as you put it, to being your best friend ever in a couple hours, Princess."
Okay, I'm fine to go out again! I informed him.
"... Princess Twilight and her friends await us," Celestia said. And there I was laughing again. "Let's not keep them waiting."
"Of course. Can't wait to meet your student. Oh, and I have something to tell you about your guards'shields."

A few minutes later, we were back inside the palace and Celestia was looking at Verso dumbfounded while mister Discord was lazily floating behind us. Somehow, the fact that he single-handedly crushed the shield in such a short amount of time all by himself without deploying cosmical levels of power disturbed her greatly. At first, she thought it had to do with him being unable to gauge just how much magic it represented, but as always, Verso had already adapted to our new power-level and could use it rather finely. Sometimes, I'm a bit jealous of his talent. Just a bit. But then, he shows me how to do the same and the problem is gone.

"Verso, do you have any idea of the implications of your, well, discovery?" the white winged unicorn asked, still a bit shocked.
"That I sure hope for you that those shields aren't your main defense system. Or that I am mistaken and used considerably more power than I thought, wich wouldn't resolve the problem in the slightest. But seriously, you are a magic school principal's, I'm worried that you didn't know about it."
"Nopony ever thought to try that," she replied, still aghast, while she opened the doors on our way. "If your idea spread, it may have terrible consequences for Equestria's safety!"
"What are you talking about, Princess?" a feminine voice asked.

Verso stopped walking and gazed inside the room, wich appeared to be the throne room we were walking to, filled with half a dozen ponies. The one that asked the question was a pony sized purple alicorn with strangely normal-looking dark blue mane with a deep violet line down the middle. She was carrying a pair of saddle bags and a strange purple lizard with green spikes. Both of them were looking at us, seemingly quite disturbed as they realized they had never seen anything like us before. But a most important question was floating in my mind and I took the front place, searching for answers.

"Why are you covered in chicken feathers?" I blurted out.

Author's Note

And another chapter out! I thought I would have finished it last week, but I simply continued to write it until I decided there was simply too much, so I divided it into two different chapters. So that mean that you can expect the next one soon! Yay!

Chapter 8: A song of chicken and cheese

I still find the surprised and confused expressions of ponies quite funny, and the small purple alicorn's face was doing a great performance in the comedic career. She looked like she had just encountered some strange creature she had never ever seen or heard of before talking with a sun demi-goddess about something that deserved serious and immediate attention, and that this creature had just asked a terribly nonsensical and unexpected question. Or maybe she was just allergic to chicken feathers and that made her have a funny face.

It was probably the chicken allergy. I mean, what are the odds?

While her jaw was still hanging low and she was trying to form a coherent answer to my clever and perfectly timed question, pink invaded our sight.

Verso hijacked the commands again and tried to get away from the pinkness that just appeared, but we felt strong arms constricting around our body, preventing us to move. I think he was about to try his 'venting off' thingy when a big blue eye darted all over our face. We also heard a big gasp.

"Ohmygosh!" a very high pitched female voice escaped from the pink creature. "I'veneverseenanythinglikethethingyouarebeforeIsawthethingthatyouare!"
"Uh..." was all Verso could say before the pink female continued.
"Andyoutalktoo! Ihavetothrowyouaparty! Doyoulikeparties? Ofcourseyoulikeparties,everyponylikeparties!" she said extremely fast.

I barely understood the topic, and I probably did only because she just used the same word four times in just over two seconds. The pink blur was talking about parties! We love parties! Well, Verso doesn't, but he usually slept during the few parties we had back on Earth, so it's not like he knew what they were like. I would have answered her, but Verso still wasn't leaving the front, afraid about what the pink animal could do. And I must agree that, whatever the pink creature was, she was holding us a bit tight and Verso was having a hard time breathing.

Thankfully, a golden glow encased the pink being before he could complete his 'vent off and burn the abomination' plan, which wouldn't have been a very good idea. The thing floated away from us, still ranting about parties or something, and we discovered it was actually a very, very pink earth pony mare with a somewhat darker pink puffy mane that had chicken feathers picked in.

"Now, my little pony, don't go and frighten our guest. He is a bit..." I think she glanced at us before continuing, glaring at Verso's glowing hands. "... Jumpy when startled."
That's right! I said. You could have hurt her!
Well, I didn't. He answered, fixing our eyes on the floating pony. And she would have deserved to be roughed up a bit. Jumping on unknown creatures and choking them is usually a good career-ending choice.
"So this is the guest you mentioned in the later you sent to Twilight, Princess?" another voice asked.

Verso blinked and stopped glaring at the pink mare to realize that aside from her and the purple alicorn her big lizard were four other mares. He stepped back to put a little more distance between them and us while we were taking in the new informations.

The mare that just talked was a pristine white unicorn with a stylized violet mane and a trio of blue diamonds depicted on her flank. she was the only one of these ponies that didn't have any trace of chicken feather in her mane or fur. Next to her was an orange normal pony mare with a blond mane and a stetson, looking at us with an eyebrow raised. She had a trio of red apples tattooed on her flank. Hovering just above them was a turquoise pegasus with a ruffled rainbow-like mane and a rainbow thunderbolt tattoo, a frowned expression aimed at us as if we just insulted everything she held dear to her hearth. And the last one was trying to hide behind the others, sneaking a few glances at us. She was a buttery pegasus with a light pink mane and tail. All in all, she looked rather nice, if somewhat scared.

"What is this thing anyway?" the flaming pegasus asked, quickly moving right in front of us, glaring at us.

Verso didn't like that. At all. I don't know if you've noticed, but he is somewhat short-tampered. It would be okay if you didn't, though, he hides it pretty well. Our hands glowed brighter and the pegasus was encased in Verso's yellow magic as he sent her a few meters away. I could feel his half of our soul slowly burning hotter and hotter as he was getting angrier. Thankfully, he didn't do anything more and released her, even if I could tell he would have liked to see if her legs could bend in a lot of directions. That's silly, he could simply ask.

"I'd appreciate it a lot if you didn't call me a 'thing', horse. Lesser men would feel insulted," he said in a scary voice.
You mean to say you didn't? Why are you so angry then?
I... Just forget it. I could probably spend years teaching you what sarcasm is and you still wouldn't understand. You're too... nice for that.
Thanks!

It seemed that Verso's 'sarcasm' brought the purple alicorn back to her senses and focused back on us, her irises growing ten sizes as a excited smile covered her face. She galloped in front of us, the big lizard falling off her back and landing on the ground with a loud 'tud', and eyed us up and down, while her horn glowed as she levitated scrolls and a quiver out of her saddlebag.

"I've never heard of anything like you!" she said. "Where do you come from? What's the name of your species? I saw you could use magic, is it anything like..."
"Twilight," Celestia calmly said.

The purple alicorn stopped asking questions, turned to look at her, then back at us. She glanced at her notes and blushed a bit. Her horn shone brighter and all the items disappeared in a flash of light. She giggled awkwardly and looked away as she stepped back. The lizard got up and rubbed its head, somewhat glaring at her.

Celestia stepped forward and cleared her throat. She smiled at the ponies and started talking.

"Twilight, I would like you and your friends to meet..." She glanced at us and Verso raised an eyebrow, glaring back at her. "... Do you even have a way of presenting the both of you at the same time?" she asked.
Verso shrugged. "Never had to. Everyone knew us in the Institute. Recto often introduces himself alone and I don't usually spend nearly as much time outside. I'm just making sure we are safe, and since I suppose this is the presentation you talked about earlier, I think I'll hit back."
He left the commands and I got back to the front, smiling. "Hello! I'm Recto, nice to meet you all!" I cheered.

The ponies looked like they had no idea what to do with us. The purple lizard looked at us with a mix of awe and confusion in his eyes.

"Hey, how did you change your voice? And your eyes?" he asked. "That's creepy, dude."
"Why would I change my voice?" I asked in return, tilting our head in confusion. "That would just be confusing. And I don't change my eye either. It's still blue, isn't it? It changed color?" I gasped in excitement. "Is it green now? I love green!"

Okay, most of them were looking at us as if I was nuts at this point. Even Celestia seemed a bit taken aback by something. Mister Discord, however, was having a hard time not to laugh. I wonder why he was trying not to? Anyway, I continued, looking back at the purple alicorn.

"Hey, you didn't tell we about the chicken feathers. What's up with that?"
"Well, uh..." she tried to answer, still disturbed by something.
"'Twas mighty strange," the orange one answered, still eyeing us with confusion. "They just kinda appeared over Fluttershy a few hours ago."
"Those horrid critters ruined the dress I was wearing to encounter Princess Celestia's guest!" the white unicorn growled, a bit of anger in her voice. "If I ever find the one responsible for this fiasco...!" She somehow mimicked and strangling motion with her hooves and I noticed that mister Discord had both his paws/claws/hands/things on his mouth, trying not to laugh out loud.
"That's not a very nice thing to say..." the buttery pegasus whispered. "The poor little things were so scared and confused..."
Well, that's funny. I thought. I looked at Celestia, wonder in our eyes. "There are chicken rains here? This place is great!"

The princess blinked and mister Discord chuckled. I think every pony in the room was looking at us like I was an idiot. Well, all except one.

"Oh that would be so funny!" the pink one said. "Can you imagine that? You just push the clouds in place for a downpour and chickens fall out of it!" She giggled at the idea.
"Oh, so that's not a real thing?" I shrugged. "Meh, I suppose that would be pretty silly. But then, how did the chickens appear in the first place?"
"Well, duh!" the pink pony said. "They just get out of the eggs, silly!"
"Okay, this is getting out of hoof now," the purple alicorn intervened before I could reply. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, nice to... why are you laughing?"

I wish I hadn't relapsed, but what can I say? She does have a funny name. So I was laughing, and her even more confused expression was doing little to stop me. Verso got back on front, grumbling, while I was taken over by my hilarity. They looked disturbed when our body just stopped laughing all of a sudden.

"Don't mind him, it's a human thing," he said.
The purple princess frowned. "Your voice and eyes changed again. Is that normal?"

Mister Discord slithered between Verso and Twilight - gosh that name is ridiculous - and popped a cristal ball into existence in his paw.

"That's a pretty simple thing to explain, dear Twilight," he told her; grinning. "Our friend here isn't quite alone inside his head. He..."
"I believe I can explain it myself, Discord," Verso interrupted him, a bit angry as he walked away from mister Discord, only for the rainbow maned pegasus to fall in front of us, still frowning.
"What does he mean 'not alone in your head'?" she nearly growled.
"Okay, you are definitely going to calm down right now before I have to kick some sense into your skull." She looked like she would have replied something, but Verso continued. "And he meant what he said: this body hosts two souls and changes a little when we exchange places, hence the voice and eyes thing. I'm Verso, and you already met Recto. I would say it's nice to meet you, but I like to think I'm more honest than that."

The blue pegasus looked infuriated enough to simply jump and strangle us, but we were suddenly surrounded by a golden light and dragged closer to Celestia, who didn't look overly pleased.

"I would appreciate it if you were a bit nicer, Verso," she said with authority.
"I'm not used to deal with people. That's usually Recto's job, but he would have choked up laughing over Twilight's name. And to be honest, it's not like I really care."
"That's no reason to be such a meanie!" the pink pony said. "You won't make friends if you keep up with this attitude!"

Verso's eye twitched. His part of our mind got a bit burning hot and he breathed in to prepare to say something, but stopped.

"Okay, I am not doing this," he said. Have fun.

He left the commands and I was dragged to the front while he kept growling on the back.

"Yep, he is grumpy now," I said while my giggling was dying down. "Well, I just realized you all know my name and Verso's, but except for..." I waved in Twilight's direction, trying not to look at her. "... the alicorn's name, I don't know any of yours."
The pink pony gasped again. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm Pinkie Pie, Ponyville's Party Premiere!"

I smiled at her and looked at the others. None of them seemed happy, though, the blue pegasus in particular. Celestia sighed and mister Discord lazily floated above us, just watching. I had a question in mind now.

"Are your names related to the pictures on your flanks?" I asked. "I mean, Twilight *snort* Sparkle here has a sparkling star, Celestia has a big celestial object, I think Luna had a moon... Though I don't know how ballons have are linked with your name, Pinkie Pie."
"Are you talking about our cutiemarks?" Twilight asked, slightly annoyed by my chuckle. At my nod, she continued. "Well, they are related to our special talents. I don't know how our names are related, though..." she finished, thoughtful.
"Well, they have been so far," I said. I grinned, excited. "Can I try and guess your names? That will be so funny!"

They looked kinda unsure, except for Pinkie Pie who just nodded faster than she probably should have been able to. Without waiting for their answer, I started inspecting the remaining unnamed ponies, searching for an easy one. My eyes settled on the buttery pegasus that was trying to hide behind the orange pony. I remembered her 'cutiemark' was a trio of butterflies. And the orange pony said a name earlier that fit pretty well.

"You!" I said, pointing at her. She whimpered and hid further behind the orange mare. "Is your name 'Fluttershy'?"
She squeaked adorably and the blue pegasus rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's her," she said. She flew in front of me in a blink, a smug grin on her face. "Now, I'm sure you won't have any trouble guessing a name as awesome as mine!"
I took a closer look at her mark, a rainbow-colored lightning bolt. After a second to deliberate with myself, I jumped and tried. "Is it something like 'Rainbow Flash'?" I asked.
She blinked. "Nah, but you're pretty close. I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all of Equestria!"
Damn, so close...
Watch your language.
Sorry...

I looked at the remaining two ponies. The orange one had a trio of apples on her flank. She was wearing a cowboy hat and had a funny accent like some people I heard talking in a film about cowboys. Maybe she was a cow... mare?

Do cowmares even exist?
No, but neither did talking ponies a few hours ago. So, by all means...
"Hmm... Something with apples and cowboys... Is it 'Applejack'?"
Why in hell would a magical pony be named after...
"Well, darn' it partner, you're good," she said, forcing Verso to silence.

She extended a hoof like she wanted to shake hands, which is rather strange because I don't think quadrupeds would do something like that. But at the time, I didn't care: it was my first hoof shake ever! I grabbed it and almost regretted it when she shook it hard enough to make our arm feel numb. Thankfully, Verso was too amused by the situation to try and hurt her in return. Even though it was nice to know he wasn't in a bad mood anymore.

When Applejack finally let our arm go, I turned to face the last pony left, the white unicorn. She looked rather classy, her mane was definitely maintained and her coat looked a bit more groomed than the others'. Her flank tattoo was that of a trio of blue crystals.

"Uh... 'Sapphire'?" I tried. It sounded rather plausible, all things told. She huffed anyway, an offended expression on her face.
"You were able to get rather close to the others' names, but not mine? A shame."
"Sorry..." I muttered.
She smiled gently. "Nevermind, my dear, it's not a problem. I'm Rarity, fashion designer." I think I heard Verso growl when she said that.
"Do me! Do me!" Pinkie Pie demanded, bouncing in place.
"Well, I already know your name, Pinkie Pie."
"Aww..." she sighed, nearly sad.
"I can do it anyway!" I quickly added. It got her smiling again. "Well, you're pink. I'm gonna call you Pinkie."
She gasped in surprise. "And that's my name! You're really good at this!"

I blinked and searched for the last incomer. I looked at the purple biped lizard that reached a bit lower than our haunches. I inspected him for a few seconds, got my conclusion and nodded to myself for the dramatic effect.

"You're not a pony."
"Wow, thanks Sherlock Pones," Rainbow Dash snickered behind us.
"Nah, I'm a dragon!" he replied enthusiastically.
I blinked. "Really?" He nodded and I tilted our head. "I always thought dragons were giant greedy fire-breathing winged lizards that eat people and capture princesses. Kinda jerks when you think about it."
He blinked back and Twilight Sparkle answered instead, chuckling at his discomfort. "He is just a baby dragon."
"Oh!" I exclaimed. "That makes sense." I knelt down to get at his level, smiling. "Well, I sure hope you won't grow up to eat people. That's kind of a bad idea to be fair. You look rather cool, so I don't think you will."
"Huh, thanks, I guess?"
"You're welcome. So, what's your name, spiky lizard?"
"I'm Spike!" he joyfully answered, extending a hand I happily shook. "And I'm a dragon, not a lizard. I don't do that tongue thing." He hissed for some reason and I used my best sorry smile.
I got up and looked at Celestia. "Well, what now?" I counted them quickly. "Now that we're eleven, maybe we could play at something? It was nice playing with mister Discord and the guards, but I think they were upset after Verso beat them."
"I'm sorry, but it seems I can't make it," mister Discord said, looking at a funny golden watch. "As much as I would appreciate having fun with you and my dear Shutterfly, I also have pressing business elsewhere."
"Hum, it's, hum, Fluttershy, if you don't mind..." someone whispered.

Before anyone else could raise an argument, mister Discord snapped his talons and disappeared, leaving the rest of us in a somewhat odd silence that would probably have lasted much longer if he didn't reappear right next to Celestia after a few seconds, a glass of delicious chocolate milk in his paw.

"Oh, before I leave, call them Kay, they love it. And Recto-buddy?"
"Yes?"
"Catch."
"Uh..?"

He then threw the pure deliciousness-filled glass at us before disappearing again. I instinctively caught it with my telekinesis, only a few drops of the precious brown liquid escaping. I sighed in relief. And accidentally crushed it. I can still hear it, the cristalline sound of the glass simply cracking before it exploded inward, becoming shards of evilness as it merged with the most precious liquid of them all.

Needless to say, I was upset and sad. I think the epic "Nooooooo!" I shouted at the ceiling made the others understand the gravity of the situation, because they all looked at me oddly, safe from Pinkie Pie, who was staring with dread in her eyes at the monstrosity I had just committed. Verso just sighed.

Verso! I'm a monster! I mentally cried.
No, you're not. He replied monotonously. First, it's not that much of an atrocity... I gasped. How could he even think that? ... And it's just an accident. You still can't control your telekinesis after all.
I gasped again when a metaphoric light bulb lit up in my mind. Can you do something? Like, separating the glass from the chocolate?
You aren't seriously considering... Wait, of course you are... He sighed again. Just... Let me out.

I squeed in glee as we exchanged positions again, letting go of the now shards-filled ball of chocolate for barely an instant before Verso caught it. He sighed again and waved our hands a few times, each wave separating more and more of the most precious drink from the sharpened dangers it contained. Soon, he was levitating a liquid ball of happiness as well as the shards. He turned to look at Celestia.

"You wouldn't happen to have another glass at disposition, would you?" he asked. "Recto still can't use telekinesis correctly."
"That was pretty impressive!" Twilight exclaimed before Celestia could answer. "Not every unicorn is able to separate the components of a levitating object!"
"I'm not a unicorn," he answered matter-of-factly. "Now, a glass please, so I can go back and let Recto have his fun?"
"Just a second..." the purple alicorn said.

Her purple horn lit up in a slightly more pinkish aura and she hijacked Verso's control of the glass shards. Verso went wide eyed and turned to face her, emitting his sense field, dropping into a fight-or-flight stance. Celestia looked slightly worried and her horn lit up in her beautiful golden aura. The other ponies - and Spike - safe from Twilight all looked at Verso and Celestia, not really at ease either.

Twilight didn't notice a thing and her horn glittered brighter for a second, the aura around the shards turning blinding white. When she was finished, she was holding a new glass in her telekinesis. She turned her attention back to Verso with a smile, completely oblivious to the somewhat tense atmosphere of the room.

"There you go!" she exclaimed happily.

A kinda awkward silence reigned on the room again. Verso blinked a few times, ans everyone was looking at him, to see what he was going to do now.

"Uh, thanks, I guess..." he finally said as he grabbed the new gobelet. He started to pour the liquid heaven he thankfully hadn't dropped when he panicked inside, when Rainbow Dash flew right in front of us.
"What was that for?" she asked, suspicious. "You did something!"
"Care to be more precise?"
"You magic-pulsed something! What kind of spell was that?"
"Oh, you are talking about the sense field? Well, she startled me and I just used it by reflex. I'm not used to someone grabbing something I'm levitating."
"A sense field?" Twilight intervened. "What is that?"
"A 'spell', as you put it, that allows me to feel everything that is happening in its perimeter, without looking at it."

Twilight's pupils shrunk for an instant before they went wide and an equally wide smile crawled its way on her face.

"I've never heard of a spell like this one! This is a great idea! Just think of all the possibilities!" She jumped in front of us, casually throwing Rainbow Dash out of her way and looking at us with wonder in her eyes. Verso stepped back. "How does it work?"
"I'm done here."

Verso dragged me to the front and I barely caught the glass in our hand before I let it be destroyed once again. I sighed in relief and immediately drank it before another accident could happen and ruin the day forever. After I finished the precious drink, I noticed that Twilight was still in front of me, wonder gleaming in her eyes.

"Hi, thanks for the glass," I said.
She blinked. "You already thanked me."
I shook our head. "Nah, Verso did, just to be polite." She blinked again. "I'm Recto! He explained everything like, five minutes ago!"
"So... do you know this 'sense field' spell?" she asked, hope and confusion in her voice.
"Yep."
Glee instantly returned to her face. "Teach me!"
"I can't," I replied. "I'm fairly bad at this magic thing. Verso teaches me how to do some things, but I don't really know how it works. You would have to ask him."
Her eye twitched and a few hairs of her mane went loose. "Well, I did! He didn't reply!"
'Cause I have no reason to teach it to her. In fact, I have more reasons not to teach it to anyone!
"He answered," I said cautiously. "He... wants something in return."
I've never said that!
Twilight's smile was nearly too bright for me to bear. "I can show you spells I know! Oh!" she exclaimed, clapping her hooves in excitement. "I'm sure you have a different view on traditional thaumaturgy from most ponies! Think of everything we could learn from each other!"
"I'm not sure I understood. What do 'summer torching' even means?" I asked, deeply confused.

Verso mind-palmed and Twilight blinked. Behind her, a few of her friends failed to contain a snicker. The purple alicorn opened and closed her mouth a few times, probably trying to find a way to define this strange combination of words to me.

"It's 'thaumaturgy', not 'summer torching'!" she finally exclaimed.
"'Sonate urchin'?"

I was seriously getting more confused every second. And judging by her red face, she was probably getting angry at me for not understanding. Behind her, I could see Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie laughing pretty hard, with Applejack and Rarity having a hard time not giggling too.

'Thaumaturgy', Recto! Verso wrote in our mind. Basically, the ability to perform magic or miracles. It's also sometimes used to talk about spell crafting. I would have thought you would know with all the fantasy books you've read!
Uh...
Just... Just let me out again. I'd like to ask a few questions and using you as an interpret seems to distort some things.
Hey! You said you had no reason to teach her, so I found you some!
We'll talk about that later. Now, please?

I grumbled and let him out again. He mentally muttered something and glanced at the still red faced Twilight.

"Since I'm the one that will be working with you, I'd like to ask a few questions." She nodded and he continued. "First, I guess you know a bit about magic, since you were Celestia's personal student?"
Twilight nodded again. She glanced at the white alicorn with a sheepish smile. "I'd like to say I know more than 'a bit about magic', but you're right."
"Great. 'Cause we don't know anything about it."

She stared at us like he had just said to a priest of the Church of the Holy Cheese that we didn't know what camembert is. Or like another head had just popped beside the first one.

"But... But how? How can you not know anything about it?" Looking at her, I was pretty sure she was going to have an infarctus soon. "You...How could you create a spell without knowing the basics?!"
"Probably because there wasn't any magic where I come from, and we're just mostly autodidacts."

Okay, based on how she now was looking at us, we might as well had just said the the pope of the Holy Cheese Church that we created camembert all by ourselves while deeply believing that cheese doesn't even exist in the first place. We also probably had grown a third head and started dancing polka with a flight of space ducks too.

"That's not theoretically possible!" she exclaimed. "There is no place on the entire surface of Equiis where there isn't magic! And you have magic!"
"First, we don't come from your world, universe or whatever you call your reality. Second, ask Discord about technicalities, but he clearly explained that we were the only ones in our world to have this power, and that it came from elsewhere."
"I... Uh..." she started just staring into oblivion, her eyes becoming glassy.
Good job. You broke her.

Verso would have replied something if Pinkie Pie didn't simply 'pop' in front of us, her eyes filled with more stars than ever.

"You're an alien? That just so great! How did you come here? Do you have an airship that looks like a flying saucer? Is that true that aliens built the pyramids? Have you already abducted somepony? Do you know this Doctor guy that gets along with Derpy? Do you come in peace? Do you..."
"Stop, please, just stop. Your voice hurts my mind."
Hey! That's mean!
That's also true. I already feel the growing migraine.
That doesn't mean you have to be a jerk about it!
"Oki doki loki!" Pinkie said, happily bouncing away.
Uh, what do you know, it actually worked.
Still not a reason.
"Do y'all really come from another world?" Applejack asked.
"Yep!" I answered, coming back in front position for the time being. "Mister Discord saved us and brought us here."
"Really, now?" Rarity suspiciously asked.
"I knew he isn't such a bad pony," Fluttershy whispered confidently.
"Yeah, he is kinda nice. I mean, he gave us chocolate milk for the first time in our life when we encountered him!"
"For real?" Pinkie gasped.
"Yeah! And just a few hours earlier, he sent a whole flight of chickens to a friend!"

For some reason, they all stopped talking, just staring into space for a second. They then glanced at each other and Rarity's face progressively went bright red in what was definitely contained anger. That awkward silence was ruptured when mister Discord himself reappeared in a flash, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of sunglasses.

"Ah, I do love these Piña Colada emergencies..." he sighed happily. He then noticed us and glanced at our group over his glasses. "What are you all ponies still doing here? Don't you have, I don't know, friendship related things to do?"
"I WILL DESTROY YOU!" Rarity shouted before she lunged at him, her eyes literally on fire with rage. And I mean, literally. I wonder if she still got burns because of this.

While the unicorn was trying her best to crush our at-least-twice-savior, and while her friends were either trying to stop her, cheering for her or even helping her in her quest for destruction, Princess Celestia walked beside us, half-ignoring the show.

"So you want to learn about magic, Kay?"
Verso hijacked the commands and glared at her hard enough to make her step back. "Don't ever call us like that again. I hate this name."
"I should have guessed by the way Discord suggested that I use it. May I ask you why?"
"You may. I won't answer though."
Hey! I'd like to know too! What is it with you and that name?
I'll tell you one day. Just... not now.
That's your answer to everything! I harumphed. He didn't answer.
"Very well," Princess Celestia said, sounding a bit frustrated. "But you didn't answer my question. Do you want to learn magic?"

I immediatly started to repeteadly shout "Yesyesyesyes..!", too distracted to actually take control of our body to bounce around at the same time. Verso mentally grumbled someting about needing to know how it works, when we both felt something that felt like a powerful tremor in our souls. Verso's mind froze in fear once again, making Celestia looking at us like she had said something bad.

That's not possible! Not so soon! He nearly screamed.
Hey! What was that?
I have to go... He continued, distraught.

He didn't let me reply before he abruptly retreated in his own soul and left me completely alone at the commands. So of course, I did the first logical thing in mind : I shrugged, got back to the previous topic, jumped and hugged Celestia's swan-like neck as hard as I could.

"Yes! I'd love to study magic! It would be just like in the books!"
"Calm down, Recto," the princess chuckled. "And I can assure you that I believe Twilight to be a most capable teacher. She and her friends are some of the friendliest ponies I know."

I looked at the terrifyingly angry Rarity that was currently trying to zap mister Discord with lightning while screaming a lot of words Verso forbid me to say. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were currently laughing on the floor and Twilight was shooting lasers at the Draconequus too. Pinkie Pie was cheering them as she somehow got her hooves on a pom-pom pony suit with the faces of the two attacking ponies printed on it, while a deeply confused Fluttershy was wearing a similar outfit that arbored mister Discord's face on it.

"Yeah, they look like pretty friendly ponies to me."
"Well," the princess sighed, "Discord does have the tendency to bring out the wo..."
"I mean, look at them!" I continued, not one to feel the need to let magical pony princesses finish their sentences. "They're all playing with mister Discord and having fun! I wish Verso and I could play like that when we were in the Institute..." I muttered.

That's when mister Discord decided it would be a good idea to slither behind me to try and hide from the magical pony duo. I turned to advise him to find another hideout, as he was hardly hidden by us, mister Discord being a lot taller than we will ever be. That's also when I heard a gasp and Twilight shouting something along the lines of "Rarity, wait!".

And then, I was zapped.

Thruthfully, it wasn't really painful or anything, but it really looked like the electrocutions in the cartoons : there was a sizzling, I saw our bones through our skin and it ended with a slight smell of something burnt (wich turned out to be some of our hairs as mister Discord licked two fingers and extenguished a small flame on our head).

I think it was the heaviest silence I heard in a long time. Everybody (safe from me) was holding their breath. Mister Discord was staring at me with a big smile, Princess Celestia had me confused with a giant bomb, Rarity's face was filled with horror and shame and everyone else was just staring at me.

That's when I started to laugh.

Tears of mixed rage and terror were rolling on my cheeks. I was back in the room, thunder roaring again and again as the door was barely holding on its hinges. How? I just reinforced it a few hours ago! He shouldn't be able to try and get free so quickly!

"How? HOW?!" I shouted at the door, the thunder muffling my cries. "How can you... Why won't you simply stay dead, monster?!"

The thunder stopped, silence falling on the room once again. I could feel him, right behing that thing, I could feel his murderous smile widening on his face. I shouldn't have... I never felt him except for his voice since...

"You call me the monster?" His voice said, somehow even more terrifying than the thunder that could shake this place to its foundations. "I'm not the monster here, traitor. I'm not the one who betrayed them. I'm not the one who killed the other. I'm not the one who IMPRISONNED the other!" he replied, his voice growing more and more powerful with each sentence until it put even the thunder to shame.

'I͌͐ͥͭ͐̎͌'̟̩̟̂̓ͦM̤̟̼̪͇̖̩͋͗͐̀ ͇ͧͩN̥ͯ̆͗ͥ̊̈̈Ò͔͖͉̰̠͙̏̏̎ͫT̖̥̫̹͖͔ͣͤ͆͒ ̝̪̣͂ͭͧ͆ͤT͇͕͉͕͚ͫ̔͑͌̂̓ͣH͊̃E͖̜̦͚̣̗̱ͧͧ̎͆́ͫ ̣̑O̱Nͩͮ̈́̈́ͧ̑̚E̯͇̦̭͎̓̿͌ ̳̣̈͑͌W̘̣͉̾̀̋̇́Ĥ̹̍ͦ̓̎̆̔O̔͆ͫ͌̃͊ ͚̻̒̈́̂͒̒Ș̘̮͕̳͑̐͒͆́̋E̻͈̲ͣN͖̅ͧͣ̀͌̎̌T̪̤̀ ̯̘̮̭̣̱ͭ͑͑̉ͥ̎H͕̱̟̟̘̖̄ͩͫI̲̹̞̜̗̦͗Ș̌ͨ̐ͯ̽ͮ ̩̘̫̦̙̯̄͆̂͂̑ͨÕ̦̪̪̬͆͒̉̚ͅW̥̠̦̲͎Ṉ͕͓̤͋̔ͦͤͅ ̟̖̩̂ͦͣ͒B͖̱̮̺̥͒͂̓ͣ̑R͓̠͖̳̺̤̓͌̈́O̪̮̺̩̖ͭ͐̅̚T͍͖̳̰ͥ̓̆ͭ̿H͉̳̝̜̊̔͗ͅẼͬŘ̿ͨ ̖͇͇͎ͭͪ͊Ṭ̃̓̆ͩ͆̋O̜͇̤̻̒̃̂̃̆͆ ͨ̃ͨͣH̟̊͛̉ͪ̓͆ͨE͙̩̣̗̟ͪͨL̫̰͎̪͈L̜͎͌̊̍̽ͬ̒̚ ̦̙̜̪ͅA̩ͤ̌̀ͬN̅̿̂̑D̫ͯ̌ ̯̤̞͙̩̞ͪ̎TR̞͈̺̩͗ͧͅȦ̜͖͙̱̯̽̋̄̑̃P̤̳̝̠̊̾̋̈́P̞̟̂͛ͬͧ̓̚̚E̘̣͕̰ͭ̓̄͐Ḍ̼͓̱̾ͭ̾ H̰͇̬͚͇͋ͤͧ̎́͒̓Ỉ͉̼̿ͪͬ͊̿̈́M͙̄ ̜̹͆̂̑ͩͩ̀̇W̤̲Ỉ̩͈̼̉̅ͨ͑͛ͧT̙̱͎̟̳ͮͣ͂H̰̱̤̲͉͗͑̉̽ ̉T̝̺͌̇ͧ̊H̏ͨ͌E̻͓͙̱̦M͋͂ !"

His last shout threatened to destroy the chains holding the door shut. I stepped back, terror filling my heart as I could feel his power still growing behind the door. I somehow tripped and fell to the ground, still staring at it. He is too strong... I thought, despair grasping my throat as I felt like crying. I can't...

Behind me, the bed was still here, with him still sleeping peacefully. Looking at him, my resolve grew stonger. I couldn't give up, I didn't have the right to. I stood up as I could, still shivering with fear, but I stood up nonetheless. I dried my tears and stared with newfound bravery in front of the danger. He started to tackle the door again and the thunder soon followed back.

"I didn't betray them, they were manipulating us," I whispered. "I killed you because of what you became. Of what you did!" I said louder. "I imprisonned you so that you COULDN'T HURT HIM ANYMORE!" I shouted, stepping toward the door once again. "MY BROTHER DIED AND THEY PUT YOU IN HIS STAND! YOU DESERVE YOUR HELL! AND I'M KEEPING THEM IN THERE WITH YOU SO THAT HE WON'T EVER HEAR THEIR LIES!" The chains rattled, my anger giving them the strength they lacked, covering the door in layers. "I'm strong now! I don't have to follow your every whim anymore!"

I cut open my palm to draw out some blood and caught one of the chains in my hand. The metal turned red where I touched it, the color spread on and I felt my energy being quickly consumed by the new seal, until I was on the verge of exhaustion when the very last link changed color. It the whole structure shined a blinding red light, that slowly turned white before it dimmed away, revealing the door covered in various chains and bounds once again.

I couldn't feel him anymore and the thunder took back its slow pace. I simply collapsed, my breath short and my head feeling like it was about to explode. I smiled nonetheless, for once. I was a lot too weak to go back outside, I would probably have to wait until the next day to do so, but I had won and got us some time again.

"You see?" I successfully whispered, my throat hoarse, glancing at the bed. "I can still protect you..."

Author's Note

Well, what do you know, I actually updated something for once. Isn't that just incredible? Surely, today has got to be a special day for me.
Well it's not. Stop making wild guesses. It usually ends badly.
I am working on the next one. To be completely honest, I'm already losing time writing nonsense about me losing time writing nonsense. No, I'm not procrastinating, what could possibly make you think something like that? That's just ridiculous! If you continue with this, you may as well say I'm studying beside writing, and that would just be preposterous, whatever that word means.

I let you alone now, I have, uh... not studies to not study. Until next time!

Honoo, away!!

Chapter 9: Something worth living for

You know, I sometimes get the feeling that most of these entries begin with me being stared at like I just said or done something either really stupid or unexpected from anyone with a sane mind, like starting to laugh after being hit with a lightning spell. It's kinda strange... Meh, it's probably nothing.

Still, I was laughing until I couldn't breath anymore (and then some) with most of the ponies looking at me like I was crazy or something. Again. And, of course, their confused, half-worried, half-unsure expressions weren't making it any easier to stop and explain. That is, until the Princess herself broke their silence.

"Recto? Are you feeling alright?"
"No, I'm not!" I replied while I could, between two bursts of sweet, sweet laughter. Seeing as she looked even more worried now, I continued. "I'm feeling a lot better than just 'alright'! I've never had so much fun!"
"Being electrocuted isn't supposed to be laughing matter, you know?"
"It isn't? Why? I haven't been hurt and I'm pretty sure it looked silly!" I was starting to cry out of laughter.
"I don't think I understand the logic behind your reasoning..." Twilight said when the 'spell' was broken. Got it? The spell! Gosh I'm funny...

Nonetheless, I calmed myself pretty quickly and replied with my signature smile.

"Well, miss purple princess, I would be pretty worried if you completely understood the logic of someone who lived his entire life in a Mental Institute."
"You lived in a what now?" Applejack asked, surprised.

And I would probably have answered if a white unicorn with watery eyes hadn't jumped and hugged me immediately.

"I am so so-o-rry!" she cried in a distressed tone. "I didn't mean to hurt you! I don't deserve to be in your presence ever again!"
"Uh... It's alright?" I tried.
"Of course it's not! I just..."
"Hey, look at the bright side of the equation : you are a pretty lucky unicorn!" I interrupted her. Comically, she stopped crying for a moment, confusion once again filling her eyes.
"Come again?"
"Well, if you had hit me just a few seconds before you did, Verso would have still been on the front to witness it and would have gotten angry with you, and it doesn't usually end well."

It must have gotten her attention away from crying, because she didn't look so sad anymore, so I continued.

"It would have been just like the time when mister John accidentally dropped a plate on our foot and it hurt just a little bit and Verso got angry at mister John and next thing I know bam! Verso was on the front and mister John was crying on the floor asking for his legs or something, covered in ketchup. The funny thing is that his legs were just next to him and he only had, like, to crawl a meter or two to get them. Mister John wasn't really the most clever guy I ever encountered, but he was nice so it was okay."

And there it went again, everyone was looking at me with those strange stares. I think Fluttershy might have been sick, because she didn't look so well. Well, at least, Rarity wasn't crying and saying she was sorry anymore, so I patted her on the head with a smile.

"But don't worry," I said. "I forced Verso to apologize to mister John in the end, because he over reacts quite a lot some times, and making mister John cry wasn't really nice of him. And in the end, I heard that mister John went to a better place thanks to us, so it's okay."

Glancing around, everything that I could see in the ponies' eyes was a mix between horror and... well, more horror, I guess. Huh, I wonder why? Maybe it was something I said? It was probably something I said, but what exactly?

Thankfully, the new horrified silence didn't last long, thanks to mister Discord who started to clap ever so slowly, the clapping becoming more and more powerful and enthusiastic until it transformed into a thunderous mismatch of percussions, cheers and whistling. Five mister Discord appeared in flash in front of me, each of them carrying a grade varying between eight and ten. I kinda chuckled when the mister Discord carrying the eight grade looked at his board and turned it upside down before nodding, seemingly pleased with himself.

Another mister Discord appeared in the middle of the room, wearing a tuxedo and carrying an old-looking microphone in his claw.

"And that's a wonderful story from the challenger, rating an amazing nine point two out of ten on our "Dude, that's creepy" scale! What an unexpected performance from someone who looked so kind just a few moments ago! Let's see what the current Equestrian champion has to say about it!"

He then grabbed a random perch out of nowhere and a drowsy-looking owl appeared on it, making me squeak in glee. The bird then seemed to wake up all of a sudden and turned its head to try and understand what was happening to it, making me gasp in surprise when it turned its head all the way to behind it, before it started to look at me with its big eyes. I was quickly feeling uncomfortable under its stare and glanced at the others to know what to do. Turned out they were either still looking at me in deep horror or staring at the owl in confusion.

All in all, I don't think they had any idea about what to do either.

The misters Discord-judges nodded and raised their boards again, giving the owl a slightly worse note than they gave me.

"It's incredible!" mister show-host-Discord exclaimed. "The challenger wins!" he said and held our hand up for me to be acclaimed by the invisible crowd. "So, how you feel about this surprisingly great performance today?"
"Huh..." I eloquently answered.
"Would you look at that? He so surprised by his victory that..."
"Discord!" Celestia abruptly interrupted. "Now is not the time for you foolishness!"

Everything suddenly returned to normal, with just confused ponies and dragon switching their stares between the bigger Princess and mister Discord and turning to scared when they gazed on us. That was really strange... Verso often said that nearly everybody was scared when they talked with us, but I wasn't able to pick up that feeling, whereas it was really obvious with these ponies. Maybe it has something to do with their really big eyes? I mean, I know you haven't ever seen those, but hey, they take at least half of their face here!

I'm getting off tracks. Thankfully, the golden aura that suddenly surrounded our body brought me back to my senses as it brought me before Celestia herself, with an expression on her face that I simply couldn't put on any emotion I know. Her horn shone a bit brighter and a golden force-field appeared around us. She took a second before talking and I used it to wow at the magical feat.

"Recto..." she started, just as I extended my own sense-field to better feel how her shield, well kinda was. "What are you doing?"
"These shields are just great! And your is so shiny! I just want to feel how they work so that I can create one too!"

She just stared at me for a moment and shook her head, probably dismissing a thought.

"Recto, did Verso really hurt this 'John' simply because he let a plate fall?"
"I dunno," I answered, to her visible confusion. "It's just like I said : one moment, mister John's plate fell on our foot, the next, Verso was on front, angry, and mister John is scared and covered in ketchup while his legs a bit further away. But the doctors said he went to a better place because of that, so maybe he wasn't scared but happy? I'm not really good to guess human emotions. Verso's better at it."
"Recto, do you think Verso hurt that human?"
"Well, I don't think he got all that ketchup in our room by himself, and he definitely didn't throw his legs away just to cry to get them back. And they said in books that not having your legs was not a good feeling. So I made Verso apologize and..."
"Recto," she interrupted with a very serious tone, "do you think he would hurt Rarity because of this incident?"
"I wouldn't let him!" I answered her with a confident smile. "He knows I hate it when he hurts others, and he never hurt anyone else intentionally since then! Well, except for Luna, I guess, but he was really, really mad at her for a reason. And he will apologize to her anyway."

Celestia seemed to think for a moment and I resumed my magic-gazing. I would like to say I was learning anything, but I truly didn't have Verso's level of skill, so it was mostly just like looking at a painting without knowing anything about arts in general : of course it's pretty, but how did anyone do this? And sometime: why does it look like someone just barfed on a white sheet?

"I suppose you cannot get him on front right now, can you?" she finally asked.
"Nope. When he is sleeping like that, there's no way for me to contact him. I don't even know how he can wake me up when I am sleeping myself."
She sighed. "I would have loved to defuse the situation entirely, but it looks like we will have to wait to be sure. Do you happen to know when he will wake up?"
"Nah. He left in a hurry, and he doesn't usually go to sleep at all, so I wouldn't know. Now that I think about it, he already did it more times since we arrived than he did in the last two years or so, I think. Maybe he has a problem with magic that makes him sleepy?"
"Recto, I really want you to understand that what you said earlier is really serious. It's not something that is acceptable in Equestria."
"I know it's not something nice to do, that's why I make Verso..."
"No, I meant how you talked about it."

Now, that had me confused. Does that mean they were looking at me like that because of the way I told them this story? That seems overly complicated. I wonder how it works?

"What do you mean, how I talked about it?"
"Recto, you were nearly laughing about it, and you sounded like it wasn't really a problem!"
"Well, it wasn't, he went to a better place after all."

She was looking at me with a rather shocked expression, making me wonder if I said something in a wrong way again. She opened her mouth just as I felt a familiar tingling sensation in our left eye and in our mind: Verso was back. It didn't take long this time... I contacted him in a fragment of a second.

Hey! You're back already! So, what was...
Nothing. He weakly answered.Don't worry about it.
Wow, why do you sound so tired?
I told you not to worry. I'm fine. So, what happened? Why is Celestia encasing... Let me look at you memory.
Only if you promise not to get mad.
I knew something happened... He grunted. I won't act before I talked with you about it.

I sighed in relief and he did his brain-tickling memory search. And I must say, I'm really impressed he wasn't really that angry about it. I mean, he was furious, but I've seen worse. Celestia was about to start talking again, but my hearing disappeared again while Verso struggled to contain his rage and to talk more calmly to me.

THAT LITTLE..! I SHOULD PLAY AROUND WITH HER NERVOUS SYSTEM AND SEE HOW SHE LIKES IT, THAT...

As I've said, he was struggling.

Are you sure you're okay? Do you still feel hurt? I should just rip this shield away and...
Verso, I'm fine! We're fine! It was an accident and it really didn't hurt at all... in the first place. And I'm not hearing anything again. Is that normal?
I... I have some things to discuss with Celestia. In private. She is currently talking about it, and it really doesn't concern you at all.
What?! But...
I'm sorry I have to ask you that, but could you go to sleep while I talk with her? It wouldn't take long.
No! I've promised Celestia that...
I promise I won't hurt anyone. I will just talk with Celestia for a minute and then I'll wake you up.
Okay, but...
Recto, you know I don't like keeping secrets away from you, but it's about one of those thing I'll tell you when you are ready. Please...
I... Okay...
Thank you. It won't take long, I promise. Sleep well.
...

***

The timing was really, really bad this time. I had stayed a few seconds longer there, we would have had a few problems I don't really want to think about. And if we hadn't talked so quickly... Well, I arrived on time and we talked quickly, so that wasn't really an issue anymore. But still, I felt bad to force Recto away like that again...

Celestia of course quickly noticed my return, thanks to my eye-color overlapping Recto's. So, after I had blocked Recto from hearing anything problematic by sheer reflex, she rapidly silenced herself and her glare became more... cold. Which was really something when you notice she naturally radiates warmth. And when Recto went to sleep and his eye-color completely disappeared, she went from cold to freezing and nearly agressive.

I didn't like it one bit. But thanks to the very reason I had to go away for a while, it wasn't like I could do anything about it.

"Verso..." she coldly stated.
"Celestia."
"I assume that you already discussed with Recto."
"I did."

I'll admit, to see her grind her teeth made me smirk. However, I could already feel what little was left of my energy already draining away to let me stay on the front and I honestly didn't want to try and see what could happen if I dropped from exhaustion. In fact, she had already picked my strained gaze and short breath.

"What's happening to you again?" she asked. "And, if I'm correct, I assume Recto isn't listening?"
"Let's just say my problems don't concern you in any way and leave it at that," I answered nearly aggressively, forcing her to drop the subject. "And we have to talk about a few topics that Recto mustn't know about."
"You can't decide whether or not he..."
"Yes, you're right, the guy that shares his soul with him probably doesn't know a thing about his mind." She was once again grinding her teeth and I decided to calm down a bit. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't get angry after you. As far as I know, your reaction was to be expected from the moment you discovered his... condition."
"What do you mean?" she asked, taken aback by my sudden swing in mood.
"Surely, you don't think I'm the only one with, say, comportemental problems?" I replied with a smile. "We both lived most our lives in a mental institute after all. Recto have his own problems, but contrarily to mine, they are mostly harmless." Seeing as she was just blinking, I continued. "I checked his memories, he talked about the 'Mister John' incident."

Well, her agressive demeanor returned quickly at least.

"Yes. Did you really..."
"I did," I interrupted her. "It was most satisfying to get back at one of our captors. Besides, he was also drugging our food and thought he could get away with it. As it was harmless the first few times and it actually helped a bit with a recurring headache of mine, I waited before acting," I told her with a wave of my hand, before my stare hardened. "But, after one of our failed escape attempt where I had to... fight with a few of his comrades, he wasn't trying to simply get us our drugged food. In fact, he dropped the plate to get a knife in his belt. The drug prevented me to act quickly enough to stop him before his knife pierced our skin. I saved us from being gutted, Celestia. I crushed his hand to dust and ripped off his legs to inspire terror to the other wannabe-killers of the Institute, and prevent other attacks. And also because it was really fun."

The white Celestia looked nearly green, and she could probably have gone without the details, but she was quickly getting a hold of herself, and stared pensively beyond the physical world. I got the feeling she was starting to reconsider punishing me for self-defense.

"Why didn't Recto mention the attack? And why did he talked about this man's injuries so lightly?"
"Two reasons : first, I forced him into momentary unconsciousness before he saw the knife." I evaded her surprised stare. "I... don't really wan him to see such horrors. We were twelve when it happened, and he is mostly like a innocent kid. And that brings us to the second problem," I said staring gravely back at her. "Recto... is a lot younger in mind than he should. He acts and thinks like a twelve year old at his most mature moments. He is like a child, and that's something I want to protect, Princess." She looked surprised that I used her title for once. "We didn't have a childhood and we were surrounded by people that wanted to study us at best, and wanted to kill us at worse. For Heaven's sake, their entire religion made them think we were a demon bound to destroy the world!" I shouted in rage.

Celestia seemed uncomfortable and evaded my stare. Looked like she wasn't thinking me to be that guilty anymore.

"But, the way he talked about it..." she whispered barely loud enough for me to hear.
"And he doesn't understand the concept of 'death' or 'pain' either," I answered her plea. "He knows that hurting others is bad, and he scolds me about it, but the very concept of being in pain flies well above his head. I don't think he understands what 'danger' means either."
"Well, maybe you could teach him!" Celestia proposed. "It is unhealthy for him not to..."
"No, you misunderstood. He cannot understand it. I tried to force a few of my memories of it unto him, but it just makes his mind fade and I am forced to get on the front until he recovers. Even talking about ends badly. If I hadn't switched off his ability to hear you the moment I did, he would have started to panic, retreated in our mind to 'sleep' and would have forgotten everything about it in minutes. He mustn't be told about it, at all. Especially when I am 'away' myself. The consequences could be disastrous for him!" I said with a sense of urgency in my voice. I stared at Celestia with a glare so hostile she stepped back again and reflexively entered some kind of fighting stance. "And if anyone makes hurts him this way, the consequences would be all the more disastrous for her, am I clear?"
"Are you threatening me again, Verso?" she replied with a clear warning in her voice. I shook my head.
"No, I don't think I could win a fight against you, especially not now." She tensed down a little. "But you are a ruler of this land, and I assure you, I would feel no remorse whatsoever tearing apart its citizens for such a crime against Recto."

Her pupils shrank to pinpricks and her horn lit up like the sun, blinding me for a moment. Her telekinesis field surrounded me with a nearly painful pressure and the air grew hot enough to make me sweat heavily. I may have angered her just a little bit. In fact, if looks could kill, this would probably have been the most terrifying slaughter in recorded history.

"YOU DARE TO THREATEN MY SUBJECTS?" she shouted, her voice like a shock-wave and her eyes starting to glow white as the inexistant wind in her mane grew more intense. "YOUR IMPERTINENCE ISN'T TOLERABLE, HUMAN!"

Yeah, I guess saying to a sun-princess of untold magical prowess that you would gladly kill her subjects without so much as an after-thought isn't the best idea around. I should have seen that one coming. Way to go, survival instincts. Well, I decided to try and get out of this about-to-explode-in-my-face situation.

"I would destroy entire worlds to protect the only thing I have worth living for!" I told her, trying not to look too afraid of her. "I'm pretty sure you would go to the same extents to protect your sister and your ponies! You wouldn't be a good ruler or a good sister if you didn't!"

Her furious expression seemed to calm down, her mane returning to its normal state and her eyes getting their colors back. She was still glaring at me though, and that wasn't a good feeling at all.

"I live to protect him," I told her calmly. "He is the only thing I have. I would gladly turn into a monster to protect Recto, and to give him the life he deserves. I tried to get us out of out imprisonment so many times I lost count to get him to be free to play as he wants. I killed countless people that tried to hurt us and kept his fragile mind away from the horrors of their experiments, taking it all on me. I would die before letting anyone harm Recto in any way. Surely you can understand this feeling, Princess Celestia of Equestria?"

That was it. Her furious gaze was no more, replaced by comprehension and acceptance. She put me down on the floor and nodded, not saying anything for a moment. Still, the terror had taken its toll on my mind and I could feel I wouldn't be able to stay out for long.

That's when we heard clapping. A pair of cartoonishly evil eyes and a mouth with an unmissable jagged tooth appeared on the shield, with a grin that would make the Cheshire cat proud.

"Well, it looks like you two finally came to an agreement. Good for you. However, we still have a bunch of ponies outside and I'm afraid poor Fluttershy won't be able to take it for too long. Also, if the two of you stay alone in here for too long, rumors might start to run."
It looked like Celestia came to a sudden realization and whined. "How, I forgot!"
Seriously? I thought.
"What are we to do with them? Recto probably scared them for life!"
"I don't think they could simply forget about it, now, could they?"
"I don't know what you two are talking about," Discord said with a suspiciously innocent tone. "I mean, Rarity zapped Recto, who told her it was nothing, a bunch a cute bunnies appeared and good ol' Celestia took Recto to a private discussion about his magic studies. Isn't that what happened?"

I looked at him like he was an idiot, but Celestia gasped and glare angrily at him.

"What have you done to them, Discord? You wouldn't have dared to..."
"You bet I would," he answered. "Poor Fluttershy was crying her eyes out."
"I'm not sure I'm following," I said. "What have you done exactly?"

He suddenly popped behind me and bended his neck to look at me upside-down, while his eyes kaleïdoscoped (is that even a word?) in a cartoony mesmerizing fashion.

"Well, dear Verso, I just damage controlled your friend's lack of tact and erased their memories about this little incident."
"Seriously?" I asked, walking further away from the draconequus. "You can do that?"
"Of course I can! I'm Discord!" he said, pointing at him with a cocky grin.
"That's not something to take lightly, Discord!" Celestia shouted at him. "Do you have any idea..."
"Of course I do: now, they won't be terrified of our little human friends and he will be able to make friends with them, as long as Verso keeps their tongue in check. I won't do it every time, after all. Erasing memories isn't all that easy."

I thought about it for a minute: Recto's slipped of tongue might as well have never happened, so the ponies wouldn't fear him. Or me. Which was kinda nice for once. So I had only one thing to say.

"Thank you, Discord, once again."
"You shouldn't have done it, but I guess there is no getting back now..." Celestia sighed.

She dispelled her force-field and we were immediately assaulted by dozens of fur-balls running in every direction, every pony in the room chasing after them, seemingly in an attempt to prevent them from going further in the castle, which was failing hilariously, with some of the equines being swallowed under the swarms of bunnies.

While Discord and I were busy laughing, Celestia glared at us.

"Discord, send them back!"
"Oh, you're no fun, Celly."

He sighed while snapping a claw, which banished the critters away. He also snickered, but that was quickly dismissed. I glanced at Celestia and decided to wake up Recto.

Recto, you can wake up now.

At last! Well, I don't know for how long I slept, but it sure felt like a hack of a long time. I quickly returned to the front as an exhausted looking Verso left his place nearly immediately and sighed in relief as he got to rest on the back.

So, how was it?
Fine. We discussed a bit about magic learning, and Celestia is about to take her decision. Also, Discord summoned a swarm of bunnies, it was hilarious.
And I missed it? Nooo!
'Got your back. He said just as he engraved the bunny memories in my mind.
They're so cute! I mentally squeaked.

That's about as far as the conversation went before we heard an earth-shaking cream of surprise and anger that I recognized as Luna's voice.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" we heard. "WERE DO THESE CRITTERS EVEN COME FROM?!"

That's when mister Discord started to laugh uncontrollably, quickly followed by Pinkie and me as we understood what happened. Princess Celestia face-palmed... er, face-hoofed and sighed. It was fun to be back.

When the bunnies were sent back to their proper home and mister Discord chased back to his, wherever it was, Celestia cleared her throat in an official manner. In front of her, the six ponies and Spike were standing, waiting for her declaration, when I was just standing by her side.

"Princess Twilight, Recto and Verso are willing to learn magic, and I think they would need help to properly start to live in Equestria. They are in need of a mentor. Do you accept to help them?"
"I will do my best!" the purple alicorn answered, flashing a smile to both the bigger princess and us. Speaking of this, Celestia then turned toward us to continue.
"Recto, Verso, I think it would be best for you to move to a smaller location like Ponyville, where you would be accepted quicker than in Canterlot, and where you would live in Princess Twilight's home for the moment being. Is that okay with you?"
Yep. I don't think nobles would appreciate us anyway.
"Yes!" I simply answered, excited to discover a new location. We would travel! Isn't that awesome?
"Good," she concluded and turned back to the others. "You are invited to spent the night in the palace and will go back to Ponyville tomorrow."

I was about to ask why we would to wait when a yawn surprised me. I realized we hadn't properly slept in nearly two days and our body suddenly felt exhausted. I sure could have used some sleep... Looking outside, I saw that the sun was about to set, coloring the sky in the most beautiful shades of orange and red. I walked toward the windows, mesmerized by the sight.

"What's happening to him?" I heard Rainbow Dash asking.
"Well, I think we should leave them alone for a moment," Celestia quietly answered. "It's the first time they're seeing a sunset."
"What?!" Pinkie shrieked. "How is that..."
"Hush, I'll explain outside," Celestia answered.

I heard them exit the room and we kept watching through one of the non stained-glass windows, completely absorbed by the sight. That was easily one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, and it looked like Verso was agreeing. The sun slowly descended behind the horizon and the sky slowly turned from deep red to a beautiful shade of purple, that quickly blackened more and more.

And the sight suddenly became even more magnificent, as, one by one, twinkling lights were starting to poke their shiny nose out in the open, quickly followed by a full moon that quietly rose above the mountains. The view was so breathtaking that both of us were too stunned to turn when we heard the door open again. We heard hoof-steps walking in and stop, probably as the pony making the sound stopped in its tracks, probably wondering what we were doing here, unmoving.

As the pony finally decided to get closer, Verso noticed in a corner of our mind that it was probably Celestia, with her taking longer steps than other, smaller ponies. But we were still hypnotized by the sight and couldn't care less about anything else. I think a tear went down from Verso's eye, as he was even more deeply affected by this for some reason. He keeps saying that he wasn't that moved by the first time we saw the night sky, but I he isn't really being honest with himself and he knows it.

When the pony finally stopped walking right behind us, I started taking, our eyes not daring to move away from what I knew to be the most magnificent thing we both ever saw.

"You remember how happy we were this morning when we realized that we were seeing the real sky and the sun?" I didn't let her the time to answer and continued. "I immediately thought nothing in the world could be more beautiful." She didn't say anything. "But you know what? I was wrong. First, the sunset was even more magnificent than the blue sky, but even that was nothing next to the way the sky looks like now. The stars are so... I don't even have words to describe it! When we were in the Institute, I didn't even think about it. I went to the Sun Room, but even that lacked something. And now... The night is so... so..." I was having troubles to talk, and tears were flowing freely down our face now. "I would have never known. No human alive even knows what the sky really looks like. We had videos and pictures of it, but it was nothing. And just seeing the stars sparkling like that, to see the moon with our eyes... I... I don't think I will ever be grateful enough with mister Discord for allowing us to see it..."

Verso and I both wept quietly, he in our mind and me outside, and even as our vision was troubled with tears, I never looked away from the night sky and its quiet magnificence. That is, until the pony behind us talked in her turn.

"Do you really think the night to be more beautiful than the day?" Luna asked, her voice filled with emotion.

Verso immediately broke out of his transe and took control of our body. He jumped on the side, away from the blue princess and glared at her. He even lit up our hands. I was initially angry that he broke eye contact with the sky, but it quickly faded away when we saw Luna herself. Her eyes were filled with tears on their own and she was looking hopefully at us.

"What are you doing here?" Verso growled.

Luna blinked her tears away and shook her head, her stare turning more irritated toward us.

"It is our throne room, Verso," she said, nearly spitting his name. "I should ask you what you are doing here."
"We were left to gaze outside by Celestia," he replied, making absolutely no effort whatsoever to hide his aggressiveness toward her. "And we were about to leave."

He turned to the door and started to walk to get outside as quickly as possible.

Hey! I still wanna look at the stars!
I think there will be windows in whatever room Celestia will give us. We will continue there.
"Wait!" Luna called us.

Verso gritted our teeth but he stopped and turned to face her, letting his anger toward her fully visible on our face.

"What? Do you really want to talk with the 'parasite' so much?" he growled again, with venom in his voice.
Luna's gaze evaded his and she looked guilty. "I... I wanted to apologize. I am sorry I called a... a 'parasite'," she whispered just loud enough for us to hear.
"Good for you. Goodnight," Verso spat back.

He turned back and would have left if I hadn't stopped him and immobilized him.

Aren't you forgetting anything?
Recto, this isn't funny. I don't want to stay near her any longer than necessary.
You said you would apologize for hurting her if she apologized first! I scolded him. Silly Verso. She did, and now it's your turn!

To say his part of our mind grew into an inferno of anger would have been an understatement. He was truly and completely enraged and I feared he would try and hurt Luna again, but he got a hold of himself.

Fine. He said in a tone that said it wasn't fine at all. "And I apologize for trying to erase your existence from the surface of the planet," he quickly said without even looking at her. There, happy now? Can we go anywhere that's not near her?
I would have replied, but Luna did first: "You don't have to apologize, I deeply insulted you. But, can I ask you a question? Both of you, I mean."

Verso was about to explode with rage and our hands kept shaking with contained fury. His expression must have been equally terrifying because I could see a bit of fear in Luna's eyes when he turned to face her.

"No, you..."
"Of course!" I interrupted him taking the front place from him before he said anything mean to her.

I think the sudden change in mood between his completely enraged state and my usual cheerful attitude surprised her.

Recto! What are you...
If you're so angry with her, I won't force you to stay outside and face before you calmed down. And she has been nice, except for the whole 'insulting you' problem, but she apologized for that.
" What... Nevermind. I wanted to know, do you really..." She looked away, blushing a bit. "Do you really think the night is more beautiful than the day?"
I blinked at her strange question, and smiled a bit more. "Well, yeah. I mean, the day is basically a gigantic fireball hanging in the sky, and even though it is really pretty, the night has thousands of small light hooked on the ceiling, where they twinkle and sparkle all the time. Oh, and you also have the moon that's sooo pretty! I mean, I guess the sun is pretty too, but you can't really look at it directly so you can't say how pretty it is, but the moon is all glowy and have pretty craters on it to make it even more pretty and I think I used the word 'pretty' enough times to say that the night is pretty pretty and this sentence magically makes sense and that's fantastic and though Verso is pretty angry I know he thinks the stars are a lot prettier than the sun and..."
"Okay, I think I got it," Luna giggled. She looked kindly at us and continued: "Thank you for answering me, have a goodnight."

I nodded and walked out. When the doors closed behind us, I realized we were facing a problem.

"Hey, Verso?"
What? He grumpily replied.
"Do you have any idea where our room is?"

I used a quick spell to make sure the door wouldn't make a sound while it opened and I quietly entered the dark room, closing the door behind me. I quickly looked around and saw him sleeping with what sounded like a happy snore, sitting on a chair in front of a window, wrapped in a blanket. It looked like he fell asleep while he was still gazing at the sky. I silently closed the distance between us a looked at his face.

If his expression is anything to go by, it looks like he is having a good dream. Maybe something like Tia's usual cake dream?

My suspicions were quickly confirmed when he calmly whispered something about a 'chocolate milk heaven' in his sleep. It nearly made me giggle, but I quickly evaded the thought. I was here for a reason. His species was too unusual for me to find his dreams from my room, I needed direct contact to attune myself with his thoughts.

"I'm sorry," I whispered as I lowered my horn to his forehead, "but I have to be sure."

I casted the sleepwalking spell and entered his mind.

Author's Note

Woohoo! Who would have thought another chapter would be coming out so soon? Certainly not me, I only started to write it about six hours ago. Also, I think I should have eaten somewhere in beteween, but meh.

Heh, I bet you guys weren't expecting a Luna's PoV scene now, did you? I wonder what she's going to see in Recto's dreams? Maybe some Discordian-level of chaos and sweets related madness? Who knows...

Chapter 10: Nightmares

The view was... unexpected, to say the least. I knew Recto was having a pleasing dream when I entered it, and nothing about this place felt like anypony could be happy here. In fact, it didn't look or felt like the usual dreams of my little ponies, as I was forced to appear physically in this place. I arrived in a grey plain, with a dark thunderstorm brewing above my head, lightnings crackling in the black clouds with a displeasing roaring thunder. In front of me stood a wooden cabin that the first gut of wind would probably scramble. Its door had seen better days an so did the broken windows next to it.

I approached the construction and glanced through its window, only to see utter darkness dwelling inside. That didn't surprise or worried me the least, as so many details in dreams are just figuration of some object without any practical use. That meant that I would probably have to go through the door if I wanted to find him. I seized the handle with my magic and opened it.

The instant the door was opened, I was transported into a dark room made out of this new concrete material our subjects used to build, but, like the wooden hut from before, it was heavily damaged. A single sizzling 'lightbulb', as sister says they are named, was hanging from the out-of-sight ceiling, shining above a bed that belonged in an hospital. On the other side of the room, I could barely see something metallic reflecting some of the lightbulb's light, but wasn't able to distinguish what it was. Glancing behind me, I noticed the door was nowhere to be seen, instead replaced by a concrete wall.

But, most importantly, I could see Recto's form sitting in a corner close to me, holding his legs with his arms and burying his face into his knees as he was apparently weeping silently. His clothes were thorn apart, his skin was bruised and a lot paler than his real body. But what shocked me the most were the chains hanging from the cuffs he was wearing on his ankles, disappearing further into the darkness of the room. In fact, there seemed to be even more of these chains wrapped around his torso, their trails also disappearing into the shadows.

I don't know what happened, but he is clearly having a nightmare now, I thought. I should try to calm him before acting more.

I called forth my magic with every intention to change the scenery into something more of a peaceful and enjoyable tone, but, to my surprise, and even more, to my worry, nothing of the sort happened. Instead, the thunder roared again, making the entire room shake with its power. A flash of lightning lit the room for an instant, making the poor Recto quiver in fear and revealing the true state of the walls: they hadn't been destroyed by time nor by the course of the elements, but instead by someone that had carved words in the concrete. I couldn't read the language they were written in, but I still understood their meaning : monster, devil, murderer and then some.

Some of these carvings looked really old whereas others seemed to be rather recent. In fact, one of them in particular caught my eyes, as it even looked like it was bleeding, and it stood just above Recto: Parasite.

Recto was now crying a bit louder, as he was visibly terrified by the strange roar of the thunder. I decided to walk to him to cheer him up, but the very instant by hoof clicked on the floor, his head shot up, tears clearly rolling down his face, the shadow preventing me to clearly see if his face bore the same marks the rest of his body did.

"What..." he began before he saw me.

When he realized I was here, he jumped up and tried to step away, only to be blocked by the wall behind him. I gave him a reassuring smile and didn't move any closer.

"Don't worry," I told him calmly, "there's nothing to be afraid of."
"You... You, how..?" he said, clearly panicking. He glanced in the direction of the bed and the metallic reflection.
"You're in a dream," I said. "There is no..."
"You can't be here!" he screamed. "Get out!"
"Recto, calm down," I said. "Everything is fine."
"GET OUT!" he shouted.

His hands lit in a sick yellow light and two beams shot at me, hitting me dead in the chest and throwing me against the opposite wall, in an entire new world of pain. By the time that I got up again, he had ran next to bed, positioned to protect it. The lightbulb helped me realize that I was mistaken, as I could now clearly see his yellow eyes filled with panic and fear. Wait, yellow?

"How... Verso?"
"Get out of here!" he screamed in response, shooting another beam of magic that I narrowly dodged. "You can't be here!"
Of course he is here! I growled internally. He is leeching from Recto mind, so he must parasite his dreams too! But, where is Recto then?

Another roar of thunder that made Verso flinch provided me with some much needed light, allowing me to see what the metallic reflect really were : chains covering a strange-looking door. The chains looked similar to those that Verso was carrying, and it even looked like they were in fact the same.

He must be locking away the poor Recto behind that door! I deduced.

I tried to jump at the door, but Verso shot another beam of light that stopped me. He was clearly decided not to let me go anywhere. Well, that could be easily dealt with at least. I shot a beam of mine to force the damn leech to move aside and ran for it. Unexpectedly, he glanced behind him and didn't dodge my attack, taking it head on instead. The spell hit him with enough force to let me hear a sickening crunch and he screamed in pain, but he didn't move one inch.

He looked at me again, fear and panic no longer in his eyes, replaced by the intense rage that inhabited them during our battle earlier.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD, YOU WITCH!!" he shouted as the light in his hands intensified.

He pointed a hand in my direction and I was surrounded by his telekinesis. He threw me back against the wall and I clearly felt one of my wings breaking. I cried in pain, confused. That wasn't supposed to be possible! I shouldn't be able to feel any pain at all in a dream! Why was happening? I didn't have more time to think about it as he shot another beam in my direction that I had to dodge by rolling on the floor.

That's enough, I have to get out!

I closed my eyes to concentrate on my escape spell and casted it.

As soon as that blue bitch disappeared from there, I woke our body up and took the commands, careful not to wake Recto up in the process. I jumped to my feet, ignoring the falling blanket, ant immediately established my sense-field around me. Here she was, just a meter away from me, looking at me like she would have looked at the Devil. With pure reflex, I caught the chair we had been sleeping and hurled it at her with all the strength I could muster. Damn, that bitch sure hurt me there, and I knew for a fact that I wouldn't be able to keep our body awake by myself for long.

Sadly, that freaking winged horse could create a shield to protect herself before I could enjoy the music of her bones breaking. That didn't stop me, though, and I just levitated the nearest table and threw it against her shield as hard as I could, forcing her to step away. Damn, if my exhaustion was anything to go by, we mustn't have slept for that long yet. Did she come just after we fell asleep or what?

Thanks to my field, I felt her creating a mass of energy just behind her shield soon enough for me to side-step and not get hit by a giant freaking laser that just blasted the wall away. That's the moment the guard supposed to prevent unwanted visitors to get inside chose to peek inside.

"Princess Luna? What's..."

I slammed a closet against this annoying shield of hers and ran for it, knocking the guard out with a thought and ripping the door off its hinges to take it with me. I had an idea to at least knock her out long enough for me to... well, I didn't really know what I would do after that, but first steps first.

As soon as I had reached the hall and escaped her field of vision, I jumped on the door and elevated it above the exit, with me barely standing on it. In all honesty, I probably looked stupid as hell, but I didn't give a shit. Blue Bitch stormed out of the room under me, looking which way I went. I sent the door on its course and fell toward her.

"Hey, blue horse!"

She looked above her at my already lit hands quickly falling in her direction and casted her shield immediately, against which I promptly splatted like an idiot. Good. I knew I had about a second or two to do my trick: just like I did earlier this afternoon, I extended my aura against her protection and made it vibrate. It didn't take a second for me to break her shield and to see the surprise in her eyes, and my door was just a few milliseconds away from bashing extra-hard against her skull.

If it hadn't turned into tomatoes, it would probably have been much more effective and caused her a serious commotion like I like them. Instead, it ruined her mane. Bah, she's female, so that's probably worse for her. But that meant that a certain draconequus had became involved. I felt a beam of energy entering my field and I created a instant-lasting shield that prevented me from getting broken bones, but the shot still threw me out of the way.

"Kids, try to be nice to each other," Discord's amused voice rang in the hall.
"What's the meaning of this!" Celestia shouted from the other side of the hall.

I've gotta admit, I was a bit funny to see her wearing her crown and jewelry regally while still having bed hair. But, except for that, she looked furious. I pointed at Luna.

"She started it!" I blurted, and the blue horse jerked her head in my direction.
"Liar! You attacked first!"
"No, I..."
"Silence! Both of you!" Celestia shouted again, just as a golden aura appeared on both our mouths, creating a zipper that closed itself.
Wha... How does that even...
"It's the second time we had to separate the both of you today!" Celestia ranted on as she approached. "Sister, you told me you apologized to each other!"

Luna looked away and moved her jaw as though she was trying to talk, but failed thanks to the magical zipper. So ultimately, she just looked away.

"And Verso, the I find you assaulting royalty again! I thought I had been clear earlier!"

Now, that was unfair. I was fighting against royalty, yes, but she's the one that assaulted me. It was just self-defense! Celestia sighed deeply. She glared at Luna and unzipped her mouth.

"Your side of the story first, sister," she said with a tone so cold the both of us shivered. "What happened?"
"I... I came to talk with Recto but I found him asleep, so I decided to enter his dreams to talk, but I arrived in a dreadful place that didn't obey normal dream rules where I only found Verso. He panicked when he realized that I was there with him and I retreated when I found out we could hurt each other. When we woke up, he attacked me."
"Verso?" Celestia asked and her glare was enough to make me shiver again. Wow, she really doesn't like being woken in the dead of the night.
"There's a guard unconscious inside my bedroom," I declared as soon as the zipper disappeared.

The bigger princess's eyes widened and she trotted to the entrance of the room, gawking at the destruction. She levitated the guard back with her.

"Did you really destroy all that?" she asked, infuriated.
"Oh, heavens no! I much too weak right now to do anything more than levitation. No, I only destroyed some pieces of furniture and knocked your guard out. Your sister blasted the wall off."
"Luna?" she asked, looking like she was about to explode.
"I... May have riposted against his attacks."
"Riposted? I was aiming to knock you out, you would have reduced me to ashes with that beam!"

Luna was about to reply when Celestia struck her hoof down on the floor, fissuring the stone with the shock.

"SILENCE!"

I gulped. I was completely burnt out, feeling rather sick and exhausted, and currently in trial for assaulting royalty, knocking out a royal guard, destroying a room and probably worst of all, forcing the sun princess to get up in the middle of the night. It was bad.

"Why did you attack Luna?" Celestia asked me, her burning gaze boring a hole into my skull.
"Your sister invaded my mind!" I replied, a bit of my own anger allowing me not to have a heart attack. "Of course I would chase her away! And she was just next to me when I woke up, so maybe I panicked a little, but I feel justified in my attempts at forcing her out of the room with non-lethal force!"
"Luna can't enter minds, just dreams."
"Maybe she can't with ponies, but believe me, I know our mind well enough to know where she was! She hurt me and could have killed Recto if I hadn't taken her beam instead!" I said, my own rage growing again, even when this terrifying princess was still here.
"Liar!" Luna shouted. "You were alone in that room! Recto was..."
"In the bed I was protecting, you dumb bitch!"

That shut her up for good, even leaving her jaw hanging freely as her brain was trying to process the information. Meanwhile, I felt something falling on my head, and discovered that Discord was floating above us nibbling a bag of what I recognized as pop-corn. And letting a good share of it fall on me.

"You two are just so entertaining!" he simply stated.
"He... I... I'm sorry!" Blue Witch finally cried out. "I didn't know he..."
"Just be thankful I was too weakened to blast you away," I replied between my teeth.
"Verso," Celestia said in a much calmer tone, "I think Luna really didn't intend to harm you or Recto. Maybe you could..."
"No, I'm not letting it go, Celestia!" I roared. "Calling me a... 'parasite' was already enough to end on my bad side, but she could have... she could have..."

And there I was, my traitorous throat choking up with sobs as I slowly realized how close I had been to lose him. As my eyes started to fill with tears, I stood up and walked toward my room. I gathered up all of my strength to squeal a vague 'Goodnight' and to move a cupboard to block the door. I walked through the damages of the room, lucky enough not to get hurt on the way to the bed that was unrealistically unfazed by our fight.

***
***

I woke up to a happy chirping sound and something bright shining directly in our face. Since when did the Institute change its clock tune? That's strange...

Oh, wait...

I sat up on the bed, discovering the strange, half-destroyed room we were in. Then, it all came back to me, everything that happened since mister Santa in disguise entered in our old room. I looked in awe outside, the hole in the wall letting me see a lot more than the old window did.

"Hey, Verso! Hey Verso wake up! Verso, you silly sleepy-head, wake up!"
For everything that is holy for you, please give me five more minutes!
"But, Verso, today is the day we go ti the other town with Twilight and the others!" I said, excited. "We're travelling, Verso!"
How can you even be so energetic when you wake up? He groaned. At least, you're cheerful...
"Of course I am!" I said as I got up.

The sound of something cracking under my feet and a slight pain in our heel informed me that I had stepped on something. Which wasn't all that surprising when you realize that half the furniture were destroyed at thrown all over the place and that half a wall was missing.

"Uh... You know what happened here?"
Huh... Yeah, that's me.
"What?"
I... I had a bad dream and woke us up. I've already talked to Celestia, it should be okay.
"Really? Are you alright?"
Yeah, it was just... a nightmare.

Chapter 11: Goodbye and thanks for all the milk

After we woke up and got clean in the somehow still intact bathroom, I moved the cupboard hiding the exit and ended face-to-muzzle with a pony guard, who was nice enough to show me the way to the breakfast room we were the day before. When I arrived, Princess Celestia was already eating some sort of cake and Princess Twilight was sitting next to her, chatting happily. I sat next on Celestia's other side and greeted her before greedily snatching at least one of every pastries on the table for myself and started to devour my new treasure. Twilight blinked and glanced at her ex-teacher, uncertain, when the bigger Princess just giggled at my antics.

"Did you sleep well, Recto?" she asked.
"Yep!" I answered, my mouth filled with a pancake. "I had this awesome dream where I was swimming in a giant pool of chocolate milk with cookie islands, it was just so great!"
"I certainly sounds so," she said with a nod. "And, Verso?"
"He had a nightmare," I told her. "He said he talked about it with you?"

Celestia just blinked, looking a bit lost. I guess she forgot about it during the night.

Recto, raise a hand, please.
Hum? Why?
I just need to discharge a little if I want to come out and I don't want to destroy anything.
Okay!

I raised our hand and Verso immediately took the controls again, discharging his magical surplus in a beam of light that shattered before hitting the ceiling. Celestia glanced at him, looking a bit nervous, and Twilight just stared at us with no idea what he just did.

"Yes, Celestia, remember? I woke up in a nightmare and inadvertently destroyed half the room before I realised I was awake," Verso reminded the princess while looking rather intensely at her. "I'm still so sorry about it."
"Oh..." she said with a little hesitation. "Oh, yes, I remember. It's quite alright, Verso. But I take it you slept well after that?"
"Nothing noticeable."
"Excuse me," Twilight intervened, looking at Verso, "but what did you do with the magic beam just a second ago? And you destroyed half a room in a burst of bad-dream panic?"
"Nothing that... Oh yeah, you'll be our magic teacher, that's right. I guess it does concern you... Long story short, our body can't handle the full extent of my power yet, so I have to 'vent off' the surplus when I come to the front."

The 'you gotta be kidding me' look on her face made me giggle and forced princess Celestia to explain our situation more throughly, but that was just so boring that when Verso got back to back of our mind, I was having a hard time not falling asleep again, with all Twilight's question about 'overloading thaums' and other technical mumbo jumbo like that. Who could have guessed magical talks could be so boring? Isn't magic supposed to be fun and everything?

Anyway, the painful discussion thankfully came to a stop when the other ponies arrived, mainly when Pinkie jumped out of the pile of pastries with a burst of streamers and balloons to basically tell her to stop talking before our ears exploded. After a few minutes of joyful chatting, I noticed that someone was still missing though.

"Miss Princess Celestia, isn't Luna coming to eat today?"

It's funny how she just seemed to freeze like some some video buffering on the database when they had problem with the connection, but she got ahold of herself quickly enough and smiled at me.

"My sister wasn't feeling too well this morning and decided she would rather get some rest."
"Aw, really?" Wasn't that just too bad? I would have liked to see her once again before going to Ponyville, wherever it was. Then, the greatest idea of all time hit me. "Maybe I could bring her something to eat and..."
NO! Verso shouted in our mind.
"No!" Celestia nearly shouted too. When she realized she had just got everyone's attention, she cleared her throat and continued. "She is probably sleeping as we speak, and I wouldn't want to trouble her much-needed sleep."
"Aw..."

We finished breakfast in a kinda awkward silence and quickly turned to leave in direction of the palace's entrance, which by the way is a silly name as we were about to exit the palace through it and enter the city, but I don't suppose it's important. What was important was that I suddenly realized it would be the first time we would ever get in a city. Like, a town, with people not supposed to guard us. I must admit, it had me kinda stressed, but excited as well.

We finally arrived in front of the big doors, the only thing separating us from being out in the pony capital of Equestria. And I wasn't the only one stressing out about getting in a big city anymore.

"Are you absolutely certain your ponies won't just go all 'Argh, there's a monster, let's kill it'?"
"Yes, Verso, for the third time, you will be safe," Celestia answered with a small laugh. "Canterlot is a big commercial city, and I assure you the townsponies have seen their share of exotic creatures."
"As much as I don't really like being referred to as an 'exotic creature'," Verso glared at her, "I see your point. Still, I think I have reasons to be worried."
"Oh, stop being such a grumpy sad-face and just get out already!" Pinkie Pie said.
Verso sighed. "I guess no amount of worrying would change the outcome anyway."
Exactly! Now, we can just get out and discover the wonders of being completely outside of a building!

Verso sighed again and got back in the backseat, leaving me in front of the doors. The guards' horns shined and the door opened on its own, letting the sun's light inside to blind us momentarily, only for me to glee in wonder when I saw the various buildings outside and the crowd of ponies walking in the streets, others standing outside what I realized were shops, trying to get some of the bystanders to get in and buy their products. Even the air was filled with pegasi, patrols of guards in golden armor and... was that a griffon? It's so cool!

Princess Celestia smiled happily at my expression and cleared her throat again to get my attention back. Which failed terribly by the way, because she did so at least three times, called us twice and finally decided to just step in front of us to cut the visual connection and get me back down to... Equestria, I guess? I didn't quite caught the planet's name. Anyway, back to the topic at hand/hoof.

"I suppose the view leaves you breathless?"
"Heavens thanks, no! We would have serious health problems if I stopped breathing because of some pretty landscape!" I replied, making Verso mind-palm and groan while at least half the ponies just blinked.
"... Indeed," Celestia said, a bit more used to the confusion than the others. "But I am sad to say this is where we say goodbye. It was a pleasure meeting you Recto. And an... interesting experience to meet you, Verso."
Yeah, right, 'interesting'.
"It was super great to meet you too!" I said to her, surprising her with a neck hug that left the others looking at me like I was crazy. "And please tell Luna it was great seeing her too! I'm sure Verso will come around the whole 'parasite' thing. I hope she gets better soon."
"I'll make sure to tell her," she said with a somewhat empty smile.
"We'll see you again soon, right?" I asked, using my best puppy-stare, daring her to answer the negative.
"Of course. I have the feeling we'll meet plenty of times soon."
"Yay!"

Twilight and the others started to say their goodbyes too, so I just resumed my city-gazing until we were finally off to the train-station. Yeah, because we even get to see a train! Isn't that just awesome? But we first needed to walk across a good kilometer or two of the big shiny city of Canterlot. And I must admit, it was a bit strange to see so many people in one place. A good half of them stared at me ostensibly and the other tried to be a bit more subtle about it. A few ponies walked to us just to ask what we were and an old-looking unicorn with a beard and glasses was even scribbling something in a small notebook and at least two different groups of ponies carrying black boxes that let out flashes of light came our way and flashed us with their boxes. And while Verso was groaning something about 'image copyrights', I chatted with the others, mainly Twilight, about the city itself.

"You mean that about a hundred thousand ponies are living here?"
"Well, not exactly," Twilight confirmed with a nod. "Only a few thousands live in the part of the city hung on the mountain, mostly the nobility and the guards. The majority of the inhabitants live at the foot of the mountain, next to the Canter-lake."
"That's so much! I was told only six thousand of us were living in Haven!"
"That's the town y'all are coming from?" Applejack asked.
"Well, we weren't living there, the Institute was supposed to be a few hundred meters away from it, but that's the idea."
I don't understand how there can be so few of them...
What do you mean? There are a lot of ponies! A hundred thousand! That's like, a lot!
You may remember from the history lessons you didn't follow that it's about the tenth of the human population of Rome two thousand years ago.
Bah! History and math! Two of the most dreadful topics of them all!
Yeah, drop it, it's not like it's important anyway.
"I can't get my head around the fact you've lived underground for so long! How what kind of pony could live like that?" Rainbow asked.
Probably the kind that joyfully nearly-eradicated itself in just a few hours. And that isn't a pony.
"It wasn't that bad you know. And in the end, here we are, out in the open!"
"And we've arrived!"

I must admit that we were both a bit confused when we first saw the train. I mean, there was no doubt it was a train, so it was great, but something was looking really odd about it.

"Is that the Gingerbread Train?" I asked, unsure. "Is there some evil witch inside?"
"What do you mean?"
"Nothing..."

I guess the best way to describe it was just that : imagine a Gingerbread Train, build it out of wood and metal and here you go. It even had a name that made both of us giggle at the sheer girlyness of the thing : the 'Friendship Express'. I mean, it is ridiculous, isn't it? But a train is a train, so I was still very excited about getting inside it. Twilight gave some pieces of paper to a pony that glanced at us now and then and bam! we were in!

At least, the strange appearance of the train didn't get on the inside, as it was a bit more normal-looking for a train, with benches covered in soft cushions and colorful but thankfully not completely pink walls. I squeed in dignity and jumped on one of the window-sided seats to start gazing outside again. The ponies and Spike just gathered around me and started to talk.

A few minutes later and off we were! Towards the great unknown! Well, not so unknown, as someone had to have laid the tracks, but I think you get the general idea. So while most of them started to talk about things they had to do when they get home, I was simply bouncing from a window to another to try and not miss a single image of the landscape outside while Pinkie followed me to describe name everything we could see. A few minutes after the start of the trip, we could already see Ponyville beyond a huge forest, and the pink pony told me we would reach it a couple hours later. I could have spent the whole time watching outside in awe.

But instead, Twilight decided to start gauging our magical ability. That wasn't half as fun as it sounds, and it doesn't even sounds fun in the first place. I don't even know where she got half the stuff she used to do this!

"Here, take this," she said, levitating some sort of ball linked to a device that looked like a gauge. "Now, try exerting as much pressure as you can on it with your telekinesis."

I obeyed and the small arrow on her device rocketed to the high levels, making Twilight hum in contempt.

"Okay, now, can Verso do it too?"

We exchanged position and Verso took some time to look at the ball before effectively crushing it with his magic. Twilight's pupils were the size of pinpricks and her jaw fell.

"Uh, sorry?"
"But... How?"
"Wow, that's gotta give him a lot of points on your magic thingy now, doesn't it, Twilight?"
"That was supposed to withstand at least six hundred kilograms of pressure per square centimeter!" she squealed. "That... That's insane!"
"Excuse me, Twilight dear, but how much is that effectively?"
"It means that I could probably crush the entire car into a ball of metal and wood in seconds, because it broke way before I got to my maximum."

They all stared at us like we were a steamroller. Which was kinda true if the he really could do that. Twilight broke out of it rather quickly though, and her eyes filled with little stars of enjoyment.

"That is incredible! That's the first time a non-alicorn reached this level of magical power completely naturally!" She got a closer look to our hands as a beam of light scanned them. "And you don't seem to have a natural magical amplifier like a horn! How can you possibly master so much power?"
"Discord said something about getting it from elsewhere, but he stayed evasive about it, and I don't know how it works. It's there, we use it, that was the end of the research until now."
"Yeah," I confirmed, "it was really complicated, and I was distracted by chocolate milk when he was explaining anyway."
"I saw yesterday that you could be precise with it too! Do you know a spell that needs precision?"
"I think I have just the trick for you."

He closed most of the blinds of the car to let only one window from which we could see the sun outside and deployed his sense-field.

"Now, we used it mostly with artificial light, but I guess sunlight will do the job. Watch the shadow."

He then started to use our 'moving shadow' trick, bending the light entering the window in order to create a shadow picture of a small character on the ground. The small character then started to run around and waved in Twilight's direction.

"Wow, you've gotta be super-good at shadow puppetry!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed just as the shadow character transformed into a bunny.
"That's so cute!" Fluttershy added.
"You are creating shadows?" Twilight asked.
"More like bending the light away to create these forms. It is kinda hard, and getting more powerful doesn't change a thing." he concluded, putting an end to his spell.
"That's... an incredibly complicated process for such a result!"
"Maybe, but we were creating these tricks on our own, and I didn't have any better idea. And besides, we used it mostly to make others think we were in another corridor, so it didn't last long. And I couldn't just screw with physics so much before we got here."
"I'm still interested in that 'sense-field' of yours. How does it works?"
"How could I explain that one..." he thought aloud while he opened the blinds again. "I emit a burst of 'layers' around me and I kinda 'feel' the things that move across them." he started just as Twilight began scribbling on a notebook with a quill. "That way, I create a mental tri-dimensional map of everything inside the spell. Both of us can do it easily, but I create a lot more layers than Recto, which means I'm far more precise."
"How much so?" Twilight asked while she was scribbling franticly and throwing used sheets covered in pony gibberish at Spike.
"Well... I could read what you've noted, if I knew how to read your written language, and can sort of feel the fibers of the paper too. And I also feel a steam of power originating from your horn and directed to the quill and the paper you're using. By the way, I must say that you ponies are weird."
Isn't that a bit offensive?
"How so?" Rarity asked with a huff.
Sounds like it was.
"Well, unicorns feel normal until they light up their horn which looks a bit like a beacon under this spell, pegasi radiate energy with their wings and hooves and earth ponies just glow with their entire bodies, and don't get me started on you alicorns." He glanced at Spike, a bit perplex. "And I don't really feel Spike at all. It's just as if the space he occupies is devoid of anything."
"That would be because dragon scales are resistant to magic," Twilight explained without stopping to write notes. "And I think you are able to detect the differences between the pony races' magic. That's incredible!"

From there began a long talk about the three pony races and how the alicorn aren't just winged unicorns, which was already awesome, but some kind of mix of the three other races. Long story short: it was boring but Verso was interested, so I guess it was worth it. But it ended only when we arrived in Ponyville, so I couldn't look outside any more.

Then, the realization hit me: we had reached Ponyville! And boy was it more beautiful than I had imagined, with all its little houses and trees and dirt roads and trees everywhere and ponies and even smaller ponies and animals and trees and trees and did I even mention the trees? They were everywhere! There was even a giant crystaly tree carrying the most awesome crystal castle of all times! Not that I was an expert of crystal castles, but it was still really awesome! It was all like a small village in these olds movies, but without the humans and with more colorful ponies. In fact, everything seemed to be more colorful. I don't really know what happened until Pinkie Pie suddenly popped in front of us with the widest smile of all time on her face.

"Welcome to Ponyville, Recto and Verso!" she happily shouted. She got a hoof in her mane and got two invitations out of it. "Here, take this!"
"What are..."
"These are your invitations to your 'Welcome to Ponyville, Equestria and Outside of a Mountain' party!"
When did she even...
"Invitations? To a party?" I weakly said, emotion filling my voice.
"Of course, silly! And it's thrown just for you two!"
How could she even plan such a... Recto? Are you okay?

The question could be asked, as tears were currently rolling down our cheeks, making our vision so troubled that I couldn't even read what was written on them anymore. I fell to our knees and hugged Pinkie's neck.

"Thank you so much!" I said a I could, a big ball obstructing our throat. "That's so nice and..."
"Aw, that's fine!" she answered, gently tapping our back with a hoof.

I let her go and wiped my tears with a hand, smiling at her.

"You have no idea how much it means for us. I..."
"Keep the compliments for the party, silly! I don't want you to run out of those 'til then!"
"Okay," I said with a nod, sniffing. "I just can't wait to be there! We can't wait!"
Yeah, woopy doodly doo. A party, that's sooo great.
Oh, stop being grumpy for once. And you will^ be attending this one. You are invited as well.
No offense, Recto, but not even you can force me to go to this. I despise parties. They're just a waste of time.

At the exact moment he thought those very words, Pinkie Pie's smile turned into a frown and her somewhat cute sky blue eyes became colder than ice as she somewhat glared at us. Well, not really at us, as we could clearly feel that this freezing glare was only aimed at Verso's consciousness. In fact, Verso instinctively took the controls back and jumped away from Pinkie in an instant like a startled animal.

That was terrifying.

Then, as if nothing had happened at all, her usual demeanor came back and she giggled happily while she mysteriously bounced away, still giggling like a mad mare. Verso kept our eyes on her as long as he could, completely ignoring everything else around us, our heart pumping fast and our breath short. He calmed down only when she completely disappeared behind a house.

What was that?!
I... think I know what other humans felt every time I got out...

Chapter 12: Crazy Mares

After this rather disturbing incident, the group broke up and we followed Twilight and Spike as we walked toward the crystaly treehouse of awesomeness that was shining above all of Ponyville. Twilight told that she herself still hadn't explored the castle in its entirety yet and started telling a story about some guy name Tirek and another tree when something aquamarine and soft crashed into us from the side, throwing us to the ground before either of us understood what just happened, but Verso instantly came to the front anyway.

To discover a pair of gigantic golden eyeballs scrutinizing our face with a frantic and somewhat joyful spark inside. An unstoppable blabber was escaping its mouth in an high pitched voice that we both somehow associated with a documentary about an overly bad singer in the beginning of the millennium and its fan-base. That wasn't really doing any good to Verso's idea of this pony's mental health, and his growing anger wasn't auguring anything better for her physical health either. Thankfully, a call prevented him from trying to do anything.

"Lyra!" a feminine voice shouted. "What do you think you are..."
"I've never seen a creature like this before, Bonbon!" the aquamarine pony, who turned out to be both a mare and a unicorn, answered. "And look!" She said, catching our hand in her telekinesis to show to someone. "It has fingers! Isn't that great?"
"Get off me this instant or..." Verso tried before he was interrupted by the mare's gasp.
"It can talk! This is just so awesome!"
"Lyra get off him now, please!" Twilight intervened. "I don't think he likes..."
"It's a he? Amazing!" She waved a hoof in front of us. "Hello mister! I'm Lyra!"
"And I'm pissed."

Lyra blinked and blushed, her smile faltering for an instant. But she quickly got ahold of herself and smiled brightly.

"Well, your parents gave you a silly name, Pissed, but that's not a problem. We can still be friends!"

Verso blinked, his mind refusing to process the most greatest pun in History, leaving him with our jaw hanging, and I think I heard both Twilight and the other mare groaning. I laughed hard, and Spike tried (and failed) to suppress his giggling.

I like her!
She is clearly crazy. Crazy people are dangerous. And besides, you like everyone.
She's not crazy, she's hilarious! Plus, she wants to be our friend!
That would be a clear sign of insanity where we come from.
It's not like we're there anymore.

Verso didn't reply and just pushed Lyra away from us to stand up. She was staring at us, fascinated, particularly at our hands. In fact, I'm pretty sure she was drooling when she was looking at them. Then, before Verso could try and be mean to her, an earth pony with a cream-colored coat and blue and pink curly mane, punched her behind the head, seeming kinda angry.

"Ouch!"
"You promised me you would stop pouncing on everypony you see, Lyra!"
"But, Bonbon..."
"No buts, young mare!" she stopped Lyra, making me snort. "Now say you're sorry to mister... whatever it is!"
"I..."
"No need to say anything, mister," the mare said. "She is sorry. Say it!"
"You can't be doing this to me in front of someone like him!" Lyra hissed back. "You're making me look like a fool!"
"You already made a fool out of yourself, my love. Now, I still haven't heard you saying you're sorry."
"Fine! I'm sorry!" Lyra exclaimed.
"See? Was that so difficult?"
"I hate you."
"I love you too, honey."

Lyra looked pretty frustrated and refused to look at Bonbon, who looked pleased with herself. It took the unicorn at least two whole seconds before she realized that we were still here, and she then immediately traded her pout to a excited smile.

"Huh... apology accepted?" Verso hesitantly tried.
"Fantastic!" Lyra exclaimed. "So, Pissed, what exactly are you?"
"First of all, I'm not 'Pissed'."
Yes you are.
Are you serious?!
Nah, I'm Recto. You've known me for, like, forever!

Verso shouted some words he made sure I never learned how to write, many of them implying a superior being having strange relations with a whale. But back to the much more mature and pun-deprived conversation occurring outside of our head.

"I knew you weren't angry at me!" Lyra exclaimed with an oblivious smile.

I swear Verso was about to try and strangle the poor unicorn when I forcefully took the commands back, laughing all the way.

"I swear, if you keep getting him angry like that, I'll be too busy laughing to stop him!" I told the funny unicorn.
"What do you mean?" Lyra asked, confused. "And you have a funny voice. Is that normal?"
"I'll start with the beginning," I said, extending a hand for her to shake, which she gladly did. "I'm Recto. The guy you talked with until now is Verso. We share this body together."

She blinked again. I kinda like how everyone always have that reaction when they learn about us. Next to her, Bonbon was looking a bit worried, but that may have been because we stood nearly twice as high as she did. I mean, that would intimidate me. And I'm the second bravest guy I know!

"That sounds... strange," Lyra carefully said.
"Well, so does being all alone in your head for us. Must feel lonely."
"That... makes sense, I guess..."
"Of course it does! Now, why did such a funny unicorn jump on us like that? Not that I'm complaining, but I'm curious."

She blushed and opened her mouth, only for Bonbon to answer instead.

"She has a thing for exotic creatures, no offense," she said, and Lyra's face turned into an interesting shade of crimson.
"None taken. And we're human, by the way."
"I don't mean to press you or anything," Twilight intervened, "but I'm kinda carrying a rather heavy bag, so if we could continue, that would be great."
"Oh, yes, I'm sorry!" Lyra said without glancing in her direction. "I'm guessing Pinkie's welcome party will be held for you?"
How did that crazy pink monster tell her already? We just left her and she went the other direction! This makes no sense!
"Yep," I simply answered.
"Well, I'll be sure to be there. See you at the party!"

She waved a hoof saying goodbye and continued on her way, chatting excitedly with Bonbon, who just looked plain exhausted.

"I like her. She's funny."
"Don't you mean crazy?" Spike asked, and Twilight smacked him in the head with a wing.
"Well, we should be glad our first encounter with the townsponies went so smoothly," Twilight remarked. "It could have been a lot wor..."
"AH! A MONSTER INSIDE THE TOWN!" someone screamed.

I turned our head just in time to see a pink pony with a golden mane and tail galloping away, screaming in terror. Verso sweared, and I'm still not allowed to repeat what he said. But it was kinda offensive against most species of horses.

"Is she going to cause any trouble?" Verso asked to Twilight when he finished his rather descriptive swearing session.
"I don't really think so," the purple princess replied, resuming her pace. "Lily freaks out about nearly everything. You should have seen how she was because of a bunny stampede."
"Excuse me?"
Twilight giggled. "Long story. I'll explain it to you later. Right now, we have more pressing matters to attend. Like getting you a bedroom, addressing your residence with the mayor, asking Rarity to make you new clothes and giving you a tour of the town!"
"We're getting new clothes?" I asked.
"Of course!" she said, looking at us as if it was obvious. "You arrived in our yesterday with what you're currently wearing and nothing else. You'll need some more clothes to live with, don't you think?"
"Well, I guess so. It's just... We weren't allowed to have more than one set of clothes before..."
"Really? That's weird."
"Spike!" Twilight yelled at him, glaring at the small dragon for a second, before she turned her curious gaze to us. "Why is that? I know you didn't have a lot of ressources to spare, but..."
"You misunderstood. We weren't allowed to have more than one," Verso intervened. "It had to do with one of my escape plans."
"Really?" Spike said, curious. "What did you do?"
"I hanged myself."

Well, that definitely made the conversation kind of awkward, with Spike looking at us, pupils shrunk, and Twilight paling a bit. Of course, Verso being himself didn't care a bit about it. In fact,judging at how he was chuckling at their expense, I think it amused him. Thankfully, I'm not a meanie-pants with a terribly bad and dark sense of humor.

"What he meant," I continued in his stead, "is that we got the guards a good fright on an Halloween night. He was actually levitating us the whole time, and we ran out of our room when we had the chance. We used to play with the guards all the time then, with the exit being the prize. But they caught us at the end of the second hall and got us back in our room, and the clothing rules started."
"That's... messed up," Spike said first. "Like, a lot."
"I know, right? Who in their right mind would remove our sets of clothes, since it obviously didn't work?"

They just kept switching between staring at us like we were stupid and giving worried looks at each other until we arrived at the bottom of the cristal tree/castle/ultra-awesome-shiny-treehouse that we saw earlier. Twilight opened the gigantic doors with a wave of her horn and we entered. As soon as I put a foot inside, however, Verso groaned in annoyance.

What's the problem?
Nothing, just a small headache. I bet the design of the castle is so completely improbable that my subconscious can't take it and is trying to shoot himself.
"Welcome the Palace of Harmony!" Twilight announced with great pomp. "I'll show you around."

The Palace's interior felt surprisingly warm for a place built entirely out of crystals. Twilight and Spike quickly showed us an entire floor filled with comfy bedrooms that each had a personal bathroom putting Canterlot's ones to shame, a kitchen that would probably need at least twenty ponies to operate correctly. But the heart of the Palace was one gigantic library filled with books old and new. Some of these tomes even looked likely to turn into dust the instant anyone touched them!

Verso and I were drooling.

"Wh... How many..."
"A lot," Spike said with a mysterious thousand-miles stare. "A whole lot."
"I assume you like reading?"
"Of course! Books are awesome! I love stories!" I exclaimed.

I ran to the nearest shelf and took the first book I happened to find. The cover depicted a brownish pegasus with a grey mane wearing a stereotypical adventurer set of clothes. But what surprised both Verso and I was the title : it was written in plain old english!

What the heck is that? Everything was written with that strange language yesterday!
That's weird. You also read "Daring Do and the sapphire stone", right?
Yep. Open it, maybe it's completely written in english.

I did so, only to be disappointed when our eyes met the gibberish that covered the pages.

"Is there a problem?" Twilight asked, walking next to us to glance at the book herself.
"Yeah! It's not the same language on the cover and inside the book!"
"What do you mean?"

I quickly explained her the problem and she took what I learned to be her 'thinking deeply' expression.

"Well, it may sound strange to you, but it's normal. The alphabet on the cover is used mostly to highlight important points, but the other one is the most commonly used in Equestria. It's easier to write when you have to use your mouth to hold the quill. Still, it's strange that your people had the same writing system where you come from..."
"But anyone could read what we write with the highlighting one, right?" Verso said, interrupting her thought-process.
"Yes, but why would you..."
"Just curious. But it does mean we're going to have to learn another alphabet here..."
"Oh, I'm sure it won't be too difficult," Twilight told us with a smile. "I will teach it to you. In fact," she added with stars in her eyes, "You will have to learn just about anything about Equestria's history and culture!"
"Yeah, right. Just have to forget around five thousand years of documented human history while we're at it. It's not like it would mean much around here."
"What?!" the purple princess screamed in horror. "No you won't, mister! You're the only contact we've ever had with your kind, and I'm going to keep track of everything you can remember about your species!"
"Oh, I think we found ourselves an egghead, Recto," he said with a smile, while Twilight harrumphed. "Kinda like it. Fine by me. It would be too much trouble forgetting everything anyway."
"Thank you!" she told us joyfully. "Now, we have to get to the mayor quickly. We wouldn't want to let Lily make the entire town panic once again."
"I thought you said she wouldn't make trouble?"
"Better safe than sorry."

We swiftly made it out of the castle and walked in the direction of a wooden tower in the middle of Ponyville. I was chatting with Twilight about the way to introduce ourselves to the mayor when Verso noticed something strange.

Why isn't there anyone?
What do you mean?
Look around. Do you see anybody except for the purple duo and us?
No...
Don't you think it's strange? It's nearly the middle of the day and there's not a soul to be seen.
"Don't be distracted!" Twilight scolded me. "It's important!"
"Sorry, it's just... Where's everybody?" I asked.

Twilight returned me a confused look before she looked around herself, a tumbleweed crossing the road with a non-existing wind adding some comedic effect. Spike looked worried.

"Twilight, you don't think it could be... zombies?!"
"Not this again!" she growled, annoyed. "For the last time, Spike, a zombie outbreak in Ponyville is highly improbable!"
I don't really like how she said that...
"But, then, where is everypony?"
"I'm not sure, Spike. Maybe it has something to do with Pinkie's party? Anyway, we should continue. The discussion with the mayor won't make itself! As I was saying..."

We soon reached town hall and encountered the aptly named Mayor Mare, an clay colored with a grey mane earth pony wearing glasses. I dunno why, it just seems weird to me to see a pony wearing glasses.

As you may probably imagine, Our meeting didn't have the luxury of beginning in the smoothest manner imaginable. In fact, when we entered her office, she raised her head from the paper she was reading, glanced at Twilight, switched her gaze on us and didn't move a muscle for a solid ten seconds. Then, she just said "Nope" and got back to her document.

Around a second later, she raised her head to look at us with such speed I was worried she could break her neck, startled, and jumped to hide behind her chair.

As I said, smooth.

"Aah!" she screamed. "What is that thing?!"
"So much for the good first impression," Verso snickered.
"It talks? It talks!"
"Miss Mayor, I assure you, there is no..." Twilight tried.
"Princess Twilight! Help!"
"I think she is panicking, Twilight," I said. "What should we do?"
"Mayor Mare, please..."
"Would you look at this! It's even uglier than Lily described it!"
I don't think I will like her too much.
"Maybe we should just wait outside?" I proposed to the purple princess.
"I... It may be a good idea. Spike, go wait with them, please."

We stepped outside and closed the door. I glanced at Spike, who gave me my look back. Then, we started to laugh. A few minutes later, the door opened and Twilight told us to get back inside, where we discovered Mayor Mare with the brightest blush I had seen all day, but still somehow able to look at us in the eyes.

"I'm sorry I reacted this way, mister Recto. It was really uncouth."
"Oh, don't feel bad about it," Verso unexpectedly said with what I knew to be his mean joke smile. "I'm sure it will be fun to write about it in our first letter to Princess Celestia."

The mayor stopped blushing, her face turning fairly pale and her jaw hanging, trying to form an answer. Ignoring her completely, Verso turned to Twilight.

"So, what did you tell her exactly?"
"Just that you weren't a monster of any sort and that Princess Celestia said it would be good for you to live in Ponyville for some time."
"So nothing about me, just said Recto's name and rolled with it?" He took a falsely wounded expression at her nod. "How could you forget to mention me, Twilight? That's just plain mean. You're so inconsiderate!"
"I... But..."
"Don't worry about him, Twilight," I said, pushing a chuckling Verso to the back of our head. "He's just playing with you. Anyway," I continued, turning to face the other mare, "I'm Recto, nice to meet you, miss Mayor."

I gave her a hand to shake and a smile to reassure her, but it seems she was too confused to return the favor, her eyes switching between ours and Twilight's in demand of confirmation.

"Okay, awkward..." I grumbled when I finally retracted our hand. "So, let's start with the thing that gets most people to look at us with the 'are you kidding?' kind of stare: I'm Recto, and the mean guy that talked to you when we got back inside is Verso." Say 'hi'.
"Hi," he reluctantly said with a wave of a hand.
"We both live in the same body," I continued. "Yes, it's a bit weird."

She gave Twilight the 'are you kidding me?' stare. I knew it! Everyone does that the first time I explain our situation! Well, to be fair, I'd be worried if someone didn't. Our condition is not exactly common.

"Let me get this straight," she said slowly. "You're saying that there's in fact two of you inside your head?" I nodded and she turned to Twilight. "You know, Ponyville's Hospital does have a mentally ill section. Maybe we should..."
"Oh, this is just grand," Verso said. "Do you know you're actually the first pony to even consider putting us in another 'Mental Institute' or whatever? I'll be sure to also write about that to Celestia, to tell her that not all of her ponies lack common sense. And after that, I'll probably tear you a..." he said, his anger making our blood boil.
"Okay, stop!" I intervened, getting the controls back. You are not going to scare her again!
Why wouldn't I? She is trying to imprison us, just like we were on Earth!
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that you are a lot meaner than necessary! Twilight wouldn't let her do that! Princess Celestia and Luna wouldn't either! Mister Discord said we were safe here, and so far, you're the only one that got us hurt!

His half of our soul froze, and he didn't reply. It was like he couldn't even form an answer, and he finally decided to shut me off and went to sleep without a word. I redirected my attention to the real world and saw the mayor looking at us with her pupils the size of pinpricks, hiding behind her desk. Next to us, Twilight and Spike were looking at us with their jaw just asking to fall all the way to the ground.

This was going to be one difficult meeting.

"He is wrong!" I screamed uselessly across the room, my voice muffled by the roaring of the thunder. "I... I was justified each time I got us hurt! That Luna-bitch was trying to convince the others that I was something to get rid of! It... It would have been a lot worse if I hadn't attacked! I was not wrong! And she tried to invade our mind right after that!"

Behind me, he was still laying down in his bed, as always, free from the hell that is this place. Unable to hear me, no matter how loud I was. Unable to understand my motives.

"We can't trust them! They'll just abuse us, just like last time! They're always trying to get something from us! I am not wrong! I am not WRONG!"

I fell to my knees, my vision troubled by rage-filled tears, that soon turned to silent sobbing, as I faced the bed, the thing behind me.

"I'm not hurting us... I'm protecting us..." I cried, sobbing. "I'm not hurting you... I'm not... I just... I can't let it happen again... I can't risk to let you be hurt... Not this time..."

Only the roars of the thunder heard me crying. As always.

Author's Note

And another one! Well, this one did take some more time than last few to write, but I just had to publish something someday. Anyway, tell me how it was below!

Chapter 13: Bugs

The discussion with the mayor ended becoming excruciatingly boring once I had assured her that we wouldn't simply go out and hunt ponies for any reason she came up with. Thankfully, Twilight did most of the work after that, and we finally decided that Pinkie's party would be more than enough to make sure the townsponies knew about us.

So we left town hall, on our way to Rarity's 'boutique', whatever that was, to ask her to make me new clothes. There still wasn't a pony to be seen outside, though, making the town look a little bit creepy. I'm sure saw the eyes of some ponies hiding behind a pair of shutters, but apart from that, it looked like we were in a ghost town. Isn't that exciting? Spike and I were looking at each other, certain that a zombie would just jump at us at every street corner we came across, but sadly, nothing this exciting happened. Instead, we just ended up in front of what looked like to be a roundabout made home.

I think I'd like to meet the architect of some of the town buildings. It must be a funny one.

As soon as we opened the door, a small carillon signaled our arrival and we heard Rarity's voice asking us to way from another room. I didn't mind the least, as I was looking around in wonder. The entire room was colored in lavender, purple and smooth white tones, a few manik... ponykins, I guess, wearing really elaborated sets of clothes dispersed around the place. I could see a handful of shelves carrying what I recognized to be colorful sets of fabric hanging around. Rarity herself was sitting in a chair, using a sewing machine I recognized from a documentary I watched with Verso. I decided to go and look at the clothes to wait for the unicorn seamstress to finish her task.

The sewing machine stopped its sound and Rarity turned the chair to face us, revealing her red glasses and the white cat sitting on her lap, looking down a us even though our head was easily a meter and a half higher than it was.

"Ah, I've been expecting you, Recto," she said, hushing her cat away, while I had a strange impression of déjà-vu.
"Yea, Twilight says you could make us some new clothes, as we only have this one," I explained to her, pointing at the Institute's clothing.
"Of course! And, besides, I still owe you something for assaulting you yesterday."
"I already told you it didn't..."
"I'm afraid I am not somepony to accept 'no' as an answer, my dear. I insist."
"Okay, thank you," I said with a shrug. Who am I to refuse free stuff?
"Even though, I must admit it's the first time I have to make clothings for somepony with your... build," she said as she stood up from her chair and levitated some paper sheets and a quill from somewhere nearby. "What exactly do you need, darling?"
"I'm curious too," Twilight said, making her own writing material appear out of nowhere. "I don't I've ever seen a species wearing clothes constantly like you do. It must be interesting!"

I looked at the purple princess, confused.

"You think wearing clothes all the time is... interesting?" I asked, slowly coming to a realization that just stood there under our nose since we arrived in Equestria.

None of those ponies were wearing anything! They... They were naked! I blushed heavily. They were girls, for heaven's sake! I was been talking with naked girls for two days straight and I didn't even realize that!

"Of course I do! Is that a normal habit for humans?"
"Well, we kinda get cold if we just stand out naked. You know, no fur and all..." I answered, adverting my gaze, blushing harder and harder.
"Are you alright, Recto?" Rarity asked. "You're sweating. Is it too hot for you in here?"
"N... No! I'm fine!" I exclaimed, effectively hinting that I wasn't, judging by how the two mares glanced at each other.
"If you say so..." Twilight said, unconvinced. "So, humans wear clothes for protection? Why do you also wear them inside buildings then? It doesn't get cold in there."
"Well... I... Verso should be the one talking about this, really!" I yelped, now blushing so hard that I'm pretty sure I was emitting light. "I'm not really all that great with explaining stuff!"
"Well, I'm sure he can come out and answer what you can't," Twilight said.
"He's sleeping right now! Won't come out for a while!"
"'Sleeping'?" Rarity repeated. "Does he always sleep in the middle of the day?"
"I think he likes to sleep. But seriously, I just can't answer these questions."
"What? Why is that?"
"Well, I've only just realized that you're naked..."
"Yes, and?" Twilight asked, not seeing where I was going.
"Well... Humans usually only... We... We only undress in front of our partner!" I squeaked, not daring to look in their direction.

The awkward silence that followed lasted for a solid five minutes. I swear I heard a few pins dropping on their own. Judging by their own mighty blushes, I'm guessing that at least, I wasn't the only one feeling embarrassed anymore. Twilight tried to form a sentence and just gave up, and Rarity was just staring into the space between spaces if her expression was anything to go by. Spike was just trying not to laugh one again.

Without a word, Rarity silently stood up and walked toward the nearest dress room, got the first dress she found on her way and disappeared behind a curtain. Not twenty seconds later, she walked out, got behind Twilight and pushed her inside the dressing room too, throwing her a dress on the way. Spike gave up and exploded in laughter, at least until Rarity smacked some sense in the back of his head and gave him a small tuxedo.

All in all, it may have been the most awkward moment of my life so far.

"Are you feeling better now, Recto?" Rarity asked.
"Ye... Yes, thank you. I'm sorry."
"It's fine, dear. Now, I still have to know what you need me to make," she said, levitating her writing material again.

I started to describe as precisely as I could each piece of clothing we were wearing, sometimes Twilight and Rarity both taking notes. I must admit, describing underpants was kinda awkward too, but thankfully, neither of them asked embarrassing questions. But they strangely got excited when I got to the shoes, particularly when I told them they were partly made out of plastic, an undiscovered material in Equestria. I got the feeling that they were a bit disappointed when I told them that I had no idea how to create it, though.

Rarity then took our measurements and said that she would have made a set, minus the shoes, for us to test pretty soon. We were about to step outside when we realize a problem: Twilight had to get the dress back. And besides, I doubt that everypony outside would suddenly change their habits just because of us. That wouldn't make sense.

How I wish Verso was awake to help...
Who's calling my name now?

I nearly screamed in surprise. I totally didn't feel him waking up!

Verso? How long have you been awake?!
Just woke up right now. What was that about me helping?

Of course, he quickly reviewed my memories from the moment he went to sleep up to then, laughed for a moment and finally sighed heavily.

You have the most pathetic sense of observation of all mankind, you know that?
What? You mean you realized and didn't tell me?
Wha... Of course I didn't! It was obvious! How couldn't you have noticed that!
Yeah, well... I didn't, but now, I do! And it's really awkward!
Why would it be? Do you think a dog or a cat should wear clothes?
Well, no, but...
They're not the same species as we are. I don't get how this could be awkward.
Bu... But they're not like dogs! They talk! Like humans!
Listen, just think of them as small horses and it will be fine.
But I can't! Now that I've realized that...
Recto, look over there, it's shiny! He said, mentally pointing it the direction of a small trinket, that was effectively shining under the sun's rays.
Okay, it's kinda pretty, but what does it have to do with OUCH! I mentally yelped, feeling like someone had just put a burning pin in the middle of our brain for an instant. Did you feel that?
Of course I did. We share this brain, you know?
Do you know what that was?
Probably me helping you not to feel too embarrassed around ponies by partially implanting how I feel about them in your memories. Sorry about that.
What?!
I must confessed that I'm pretty surprised. Brains aren't supposed to be able to feel pain. I figure it's just some form of mind placebo.
I didn't know you could do that!
Neither did I! Isn't that fascinating? But, did it even work? Twilight is undressed again, do you have a problem with that?
What do you mean?
Perfect.

Leaving me on this cryptic note, I walked out of Rarity's shop , waiting for Twilight and Spike to follow me. She glanced at us, mildly blushing.

"Will you be alright?"
"Yeah, Rarity will probably make great clothes. She can't be that obsessed with them and accept a bad set, I think."
"That's not what I meant. Are you sure you won't have a problem with ponies' dressing code?"
"I don't think I understand..."
"He'll be fine," Verso said. "I gave him a bit of help. Don't worry about us."
"Oh, you're awake!" Twilight said with little stars in her eyes, as she levitated material to take some more notes. "Recto told me you could be more precise than him about humans' habits!"
"Oh, boy..." he whined.

We started our tour of the town, Verso answering as good as he could Twilight nearly nonstop flow of questions while I stayed in the back and simply looked around through our eyes. Verso quickly decided to try and let me control our eyes alone while he used his sensing field to keep walking without looking, which probably really strange for an outsider, was funny as hell for me. But it eventually started to gave us an infernal headache too, so we had to stop. Still, we just had to try that one again.

We eventually arrived where Twilight was leading us, a big field just outside the town with trees covered in red fruits. A minute or two later, and we saw a big red barn behind a porch that read "Sweet Apple Acres". I immediately forced Verso to look at the fruit that my brilliant mind immediately identified as 'apples'.

Wow, they really do look like Applejack's butt-picture... Was my first thought.
"Welcome to Sweet Apple Acres, Recto and Verso!" Twilight announced. "This is the home of the Apple family."
"Let me take a wild guess and bet that your friend Applejack lives here," Verso's brilliant-er mind deduced. "And I think it's also safe to assume that they are apple-farmers?"
"You're right," Twilight confirmed with a nod. "They make the best apple related products in all of Equestria! But let's continue our tour."
"Hey, do you think it would be okay with Applejack if we took one of these?" I asked her, pointing at the deliciously red fruits.
"Ah don' see why I wouldn't let ya try one, partner," Applejack's voice said from behind us, startling me and pressing Verso to take the commands.

She was carrying baskets filled to the rim with apples on her sides and was looking at us with a smug expression. Verso wasn't really amused, but I was giggling in the back of our mind.

"Thanks for the jump scare..." he grumbled.
"You're welcome, sugarcube," she answered with a grin. "Now, Ah thought you two wanted to try one these beauties?" she asked, using her tail to grab an apple and giving it to us.
"Thank you," he said before retreating in the back of our mind.
"Thank you so much!" I exclaimed as soon as I was in control, hugging the orange pony.
"Wow there, no need to be so..." Applejack started with a laugh until she was interrupted by the 'crunch' sound of human teeth encountering apple flesh.

Now that I've said that aloud, I realize it sounds pretty messed up. Bah.

Anyway, I kept hugging AJ and eating the most delicious fruit ever for a minute or two, and we continued our tour of the town, aiming at Fluttershy's home. I must admit, the place was mighty pretty, and the cute little critters roaming freely around the house made me squee in awe. We continued, walking across another road on the outskirts of the town, bordering the creepy-looking forest that surrounded Ponyville.

"This is the Everfree forest," Twilight said. "I'd highly recommend you not to ever enter it. It's full with dangerous monsters, strange plants and is simply just... wrong."
"'Wrong'? What do you mean by that?"
"The Everfree just isn't natural!" Spike said. "The weather changes on its own, plants grow all over the place and animals take care of themselves! This place just doesn't work like it should!"

Verso and I just shared a mental dubious stare with each other, before he raised an eyebrow at them.

"Let me get this straight : the Everfree Forest is 'unnatural' because it doesn't need ponies to take care of it?"
"Yeah!" Spike nodded. "That's weird, don't you think?"
"I'd call that 'home sweet home'. Our entire world acted this way."

Spike's pupils turned to pinpricks and he hold his tail against his chest, while Twilight's eyes just lightened up and she made some more writing material appear out of nowhere.

"It sounds horrible!" Spike cried in horror.
"It sounds passionating!" Twilight shrieked in excitement. "Tell me every..."
"Hell, no! Whatever question it is you're about to ask, it's likely to be a lot too complicated to be explained on a stroll around the town; so just store your questions for later, please."

Twilight grumbled something and we kept walking. Soon, she had showed us most of Ponyville and decided that we should stop and have lunch at some restaurant where we saw other ponies for the first time in what felt like forever. Sadly, when we arrived, they all stopped what they were doing and just stared at us, baffled. A tumbleweed made its way in front of us in absolute silence, and I decided that I had enough of these awkward moments.

"Uh, hi?" I tried, waving a hand.

To be fair, we were both expecting them to freak out like Lily had earlier. It would have been logical, as they were obviously hiding away from up to this point. But, kind of unrealistically, a good half of them shrugged and resumed their business, the other half just deciding to ignore us.

I didn't really know how to feel about it.

What is... I don't... How? Why?!
"Well, that was unexpected, but I guess it turned out for the best," Twilight said, a bit taken aback too.

We sat around a small table and looked at the menu. Well at least, we would have if it was written in their usual gibberish. How they could even believe that it is readable is beyond me. Thankfully, Twilight and Spike kindly translated it for us, revealing the secret alimentation of small colorful magical horses. Which, sadly, didn't go all that well with human stomachs, according to Verso.

Is there anything we can eat?
I guess the sandwich's bread wouldn't be horribly poisonous or indigestible, but I think we're going to have to learn to cook while we're here. Damned herbivores... Try some fruits too.
"Can we just order bread and fruits? Verso says we can't eat anything else here."
"Of course you can. It reminds me," she said, taking out her notes again, "that I'm going to need to know what exactly you can eat if you want to live around here."
Is she going to note each and every little thing we do? It's getting annoying.
Are you saying she shouldn't? I thought you were a fan of this kind of sciency thing!
Oh, I am. Doesn't mean it's not annoying anyway.

Verso started to describe plants and and food we could typically eat while a pony server with a funny mustache got our order, later bringing us food. That's how we found out that Spike, being a dragon, could (and loved to) eat gems, which didn't surprise Verso as much as I thought it would. At least until he started to told me about several legends about dragons eating rocks or precious metals to form their scales, which would probably have been quite fun if he hadn't done it in a boringly analytical way. But, the fact that she saw him telling me a story picked Twilight's interest.

"You know," she simply remarked between two 'bites' of her sandwich (she has terrible table manners, and we've never eaten with anyone else until the day before),"I'm intrigued with how your mind, or minds, work."
Oh, great, another one.
"What do you mean?" I asked, taking a bite out of our apple.
"Well, you share the same brain, and for what we know, memories are stocked in there. As far as I've noticed, neither of you have trouble doing anything, which means you can both use your brain completely. But for some reason, your memories are different. Why is that?"

Verso took abruptly commands, sadly just when I was swallowing, making us choke on our food for a moment.

"It's... That's because Recto has... well, let's just say he is interested in feeling life while I prefer to know things. So we just learned different things over the years," he explained, clearly stressed and avoiding to look at Twilight for some reason.
"Ok, I get it, but why can't he access your memories? Princess Celestia told me you were able to read his, but so far, he didn't read yours, did he?"
"Nah, I can't do it," I said. "Verso's better with all this 'memory' stuff."
"Why is that?"
"I don't know," Verso answered abruptly, getting more stressed by the moment. "I can actively access our subconscious and read nearly every piece of information either of us has experienced, but Recto can't for some unknown reason."
"What do you mean by 'actively accessing your subconscious'?" Twilight asked, curious, Verso relaxing somehow at her question.
"It means that I can at will break mental walls that normally prevent us from noticing excess information that our brain still records, and that I have a nearly perfect memory of everything that we've experienced or learned so far."
"That sounds amazing!"
"It kinda is," I told them, chewing our last apple slice. "I mean, he can learn nearly anything really fast! For exemple, he learned to shoot super-neat magic lasers just by replicating what Luna did yesterday. It gets kinda annoying when you have trouble learning anything."
Don't pretend you would have listened to any of those lessons on the quantum physics anyway, or that you would have spent your time learning survival methods for the outside. You simply get bored easily.
But the teachers where sooo boring! I don't get how you could stay awake all this time.

He made a point not to answer that and simply looked at the funny-looking pony server as he was bringing a piece of paper between his teeth. Twilight glanced at it and floated a handful of tiny shiny disks to him. For some reason, this made Verso choke on our glass of water, which he finally spat out all over the pony princess' in surprise.

"Thanks..." she groaned while Spike and I were giggling and Verso was catching our breath. "May I ask what terrible offense I did to deserve this?"
"Did *cough* What were those coins you used to pay?"
Oh, so that's what coins look like...
"Well, they were Bits. That's Equestria's money."
"Give me one," he ordered, making Twilight look confused, but she obeyed all the same and gave him one shiny Bit. One shiny, golden, Bit.
Oh, boy. Is it what I think it is?
"Not now, Recto, I have to check something first..." he whispered.

Verso used his sensory field and concentrated most of it on the tiny, but heavy, golden coin. A couple of seconds later, he slowly raised our head, looking at Twilight with a slight twitch in our eye.

"Did you just pay for a lunch for three with several coins made out of sixty grams of SOLID GOLD?!"
Oh, so it is gold! It's so shiny~
"Yes, why? Is that a problem?"
"No, everything is fine. One of these coins could have paid for at least twenty meals for three back in our world, but everything is fine. I don't want to know how your economy works, but I'm going to assume it's bullshit."
"Gold was worth so much on Earth? That's weird."
I don't... Just... Just get back to the front for a while. I'm going to sulk in a corner for the next... let's say twenty minutes. Yeah, twenty minutes sounds good.

He left the front and Twilight started to walk back to the center of the town, where we reached a building that just made me drool on sight: where we stepped into the Gingerbread Train to come to Ponyville, Twilight was now heading us toward the real Gingerbread House. By the heavens, it even smelt awfully tasty! Best purple pony glanced at us and smirked.

"I get that you would appreciate some sort of dessert?"

I didn't answer, just nodded : our brain was far too busy processing the terribly sweet smell floating around the place, and Verso was doing everything in his power to refrain me from trying and bite a wall.

"Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! The best bakery in all of Ponyville, and incidentally Pinkie Pie's home and workplace."
Wait, the Pink Monster lives here? Retreat! Retreat!
But it smells so sweet...

Twilight went ahead and opened the door for us, leading to a black abyss of sensory overload, seeing as the light inside was turned off. Choosing to follow our nose and stomach over Verso's general bad feeling. The sad thing being that the shop's darkness was made it really hard to see. At least until the door closed behind us and a huge 'SURPRISE!' was shouted from all around us.

Verso panicked and forced his way to the front, activating his sensory field immediately, just as the lights turned on and revealed Pinkie Pie and all of Twilight's friends around us with big smiles, as well as Lyra, Bonbon and a bunch of other ponies, half of which wore curious expressions on their face rather than particularly joyful ones.

Pinkie Pie bounced right in front of us with a smile that looked slightly too large for her face.

"Do you like it? It's your very own 'Welcome to Ponyville, Equestria and Outside of a Mountain' surprise party!"
"You nearly gave me a heart attack, you psycho," Verso grumpily answered.
"Great! It means you were really surprised!" she chirped, oblivious to Verso's anger. "Now, why don't you go around and talk with everypony? I'm sure you two will be making friends in no time! I'll go and get the cake!"
"By the heavens, how I hate her..." Verso muttered for ourselves when she was out of earing distance.
What? Why? She's so nice! And she even threw a party just for us! Isn't that great?
You know I despise parties. I'll just let y ou on the front and... he started, stopping mid-sentence to stare at Lyra, who took that stare as an invitation to come have a chat with us.
Is there a problem? I asked. Or maybe you want actually want to be at a party for once! I gasped.
There's a problem... Something is off...
What do you mean?
"Hey there!" Lyra said. "Are you currently Recto or Verso?"
"Verso..." he answered blankly, before he started to walk around her, inspecting her appearance with a curious look.
"What are you doing?" Lyra asked, tilting her head.
"Just checking something... Hey, Twilight!" he called, interrupting a discussion she was having with Rainbow Dash.
"What is it?" purple pony princess asked when she arrived.
"You told me there were only three races of ponies, four if you take alicorns into acount, right?" he asked without moving our eyes out of Lyra, who looked somewhat curious with just a hint of worry.
"Yes, why?"

He didn't answer right away, instead choosing to turn off and on again our sensory field, which made him frown again.

"You can do magic too? That's just so amazing!" Lyra said, as she started to sweat a bit under Verso's constant stare and put on a smile even I could tell was fake. "What does this spell do?"
"That's your sensory field, isn't it?" Twilight asked, making Lyra pale heavily all of a sudden.
"Yes, it is..." Verso said slowly, still scrutinizing Lyra. He then suddenly turned our head and looked across the crowd while I felt he was concerned by something. "Are you sure there isn't any other race of ponies? Even a small difference?"
"Not that I can think of," Twilight answered, visibly getting more and more curious with Verso's question. "Why are you asking me that now?"
"Well, I'll be going out, hehe..." Lyra said with a nervous laugh.
"Stay here," Verso ordered, stopping Lyra in her tracks. "Twilight, what I'm going to ask is really, really important. Answer it as quietly as you can, but I must know."
"Why would..."
"It may be more important for you than it is for me, so please, roll with me here," he interrupted her, still visually picking some ponies out of the crowd. "Is there anything that looks like a pony, but isn't?"
"Well, not really," Twilight answered, and I heard Lyra letting out a breath she was holding. "Of course, changelings can..."
"What do they look like?" he rudely interrupted her.
"Kinda like bug-ponies, but they can change their appearance, so..."

Verso magically closed her mouth and looked intensely into her eyes. I heard Lyra gasping and trotting on her spot, visibly really anxious.

"Answer with a nod for yes and shake your head to say no. No words." Twilight stared blankly at him and nodded. "Are they dangerous?"

Twilight nodded and Verso tensed up. He glared in Lyra's direction, who was completely livid, fear all over her face. He hesitated for a moment and finally let Twilight go.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Princess Twilight Sparkle. You can go back to whatever it is you were doing. Have a nice party."
"What? That's it?! You had me worried here for a moment!"
"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you," he said, still staring holes into Lyra's livid head.

Twilight walked away fulminating, leaving us relatively alone with a Lyra that looked like she was about to wet herself. Verso stayed silent for a moment, thinking deeply. He then walked up to the terrified unicorn, glaring down at her.

"I think we need a isolated place to talk, you and I."
"Well, I..."
"If you even try to escape, or to pass a message to anyone, I'll instantly crush your skull like an over-sized egg, is that clear?"

She gulped and nodded, walking toward a nearby door..

Why are you scaring her? I know you didn't like her jokes, but...
Oh believe me, it's not about the jokes... It seems that our pony hosts are currently having a bug infestation.

Author's Note

And here's another one! I must admit, I was kinda looking forward to finally arrive to that moment. Finally, some action is on the horizon!
In the next chapter: mind-crushingly bad puns, more bugs and... is that a Queen I see?
As always, I look forward to see your comments guys.
See you all soon!

Chapter 14: Invasion of the Pony Snatchers

We arrived in a small storage room and Verso leaned against the door to keep it closed, still glaring silently at Lyra, who was heavily sweating. He strangely decided not to say anything and just waited, glaring. In front of us, Lyra was terribly nervous and was trotting on her spot, frantically looking around. It took five excruciatingly long minutes for something to happen. That something being Lyra breaking into tears.

"I... I'm sorry I..."
"Shut up," Verso silenced her. "I'll ask you a few questions. Depending on you answers, I may decide to let you go untouched."
"I..."
"Shut up. No talking until I ask something."
Do you have to be so mean? Look at her! She looks so sad!
I have to if I want answers. It has to be afraid of me.
But still... I don't like that...
Do you want to go to sleep? You don't have to watch me do that.
I... Only if you promise not to hurt her while I'm sleeping!
... As long as it doesn't try to hurt us or to call for help, it is safe. Is that enough for you?
Okay... Please don't be too mean...

The very instant Recto went to sleep, I groaned and stared at the mess of a creature standing in front of me. I had extended my sense field across the room behind me to make sure no one was coming our way and to monitor the other 'changelings' chatting with the ponies, but I had no clear idea what to do. I didn't know a thing about these creatures' powers, other than they could apparently change their form to that of a normal pony and that Twilight at least considered them dangerous. Thankfully, my spell could see through the coat of magic that changed their appearance, and allowed me to discover what they were. But I knew the situation was dire.

The bug in front of me looked like it would shit itself for the smallest thing, and I had trouble believing Twilight. But, again, I didn't know crap about them. First thing that needed to change.

"Are you a 'changeling'?" I asked, even though her body language and my spell answered this question long ago.
"I... I don't see..."
"Listen here, bug. This can only end in two ways : either I crush you like a cockroach or I don't. A good portion of this choice relies on you not taking me for a moron, so choose your answers carefully, alright?"

It gulped and started to cry again. Could such a pushover really be that dangerous? Then again, I guess that a species made entirely out of shapeshifters would be pretty good at acting. Was it trying to get me to lower my guard to attack me as soon as it saw a possibility?

"Are you a changeling?"

It nodded, her throat too constricted to speak. Whatever they were doing to imitate the pony anatomy, it sure was messing with my spell, like two things being in the same place at the same moment.

"Did you take Lyra's place?"
"No!" it cried, surprising me. "I... I'm the only Lyra there is!"
"Interesting. Why would you disguise yourself as a pony, if not to take their place?"
"I... I'm not a spy! I just wanted to try to live like a pony!"

Okay, it had me confused there. Ponies were obviously rather accepting of other species, or I would be bound in chains by now. That could only mean that they had problems with changelings in particular. And why would it assume that I would think it was a spy? It could have easily just decided to replace a pony to live her life.

"Can you change back to your natural form?"

It nodded and exploded in green fire, making me create a shield to protect me. I was about to go medieval on its soon to be corpse when I realized that it hadn't moved an inch and had changed appearance to look exactly like a bug-pony, with a black chitinous exoskeleton, a horn protruding from its skull, fly-like wings and glowing blue eyes, a freakishly long pair of fangs and a few holes in her legs. For some reason, it still had her turquoise and white mane and tail, which didn't fit very well with the rest of its body, but then again, I was in a world of colorful and magical talking ponies, so who am I to judge? All in all, she looked way cooler than she did as a pony, but I figure that it doesn't mean much.

"Were all the pyrotechnics mandatory?"
"Yes," it barely whispered.
"Okay. Next question : why are you hiding your true form, if you aren't disguising yourself as anyone else?"

I think it stared confused at me, but her bug-like features didn't do such a great job to carry her expressions.

"Well... Did you look at me? I'm a changeling, for the Hive's sake!"

Well, wasn't that an interesting way of swearing? That wasn't indicating anything good at all. My sense field warned me that the main room was becoming a bit more agitated and that I had to hurry.

"Why are there so many of you here?" I asked, concentrating now more on the other room.
"What do you mean? I'm the only changeling in Ponyville!"
"Yeah, right, continue lying when I can feel seven other changeling barely twenty meters away from us. That's a good idea."
"There are others here?!" it yelped, surprised, and strangely panicked.

Okay, I must admit that its reaction took me by surprise. It sounded genuinely surprised, and even more genuinely scared.

"You didn't know?"
"N... No! Changelings don't usually go to same place to feed when they're not in..." It stopped mid-sentence, visibly coming to a realization while I was more concerned about its 'feeding' remark. "Oh, crap. Oh, crapcrapcrapcrap...." it started to repeat, running in circles. It then stopped and looked at me intensely. "Is Bonbon okay? You can feel her with your spell, don't you?"
"She's alright. What was that about the feeding?"
"I don't have time to explain! Ponyv..."
"Yes, you do, because we're not leaving this place until I say so."
"But..."
"What was that about 'feeding'?"

It looked conflicted and took a moment before answering.

"I... Changelings feed off emotions from other species, mainly off their love," it started to quickly explain.
Heavens, even monsters sound sweet in this place...
"So we either replace a pony who has a partner or we disguise ourselves as ponies and get love the 'romantic' way in order to feed. But having too many changelings in the same place is dangerous! We could get caught, drain a population dry or interfere with each other without knowing!"
"Why are there so many changelings in this place, if that's true?"
"Well, another way to... 'feed'... is to place ponies into a cocoon that keeps them hallucinating and nourishes them while we feed off them. That's what hives do..."
Oh, fuck, it just went a hell of a lot darker. So much for the sweetness.
"Are you saying that a hive is about to attack Ponyville?"
"Yes! That's why we need to get out! We must stop the hive before it's too late!"

I took a second to weight my options. Either Lyra was lying to get me to lower my guard to kill the only creature it knew to be able to detect disguised changelings, or it was saying the truth and we were on the verge of a really crappy situation. Wasn't that great? But, if it was lying, I would have been able to kill it in an instant. If it was saying the truth, I would need some help with this situation. All in all, there was only one way to find out.

"What do you suggest we do to fight off an entire hive? Also, change back back into you pony form. I hate bugs."

It... She looked at me with what I recognized to be gratitude and changed back into a unicorn.

"Well, hives work in a peculiar way: they are centered around one changeling, the Queen, who shares some kind of mental connexion with her changelings. That means that we have to defeat the Queen if we want to stop the hive."
"Doesn't sound too complicated."
"Yeah, well, you may want to rethink that. The last hive queen that attacked the ponies was powerful enough to defeat Princess Celestia herself, with all the power she had gained from draining love. Queens are very powerful!"
"Sounds a bit more complicated, but nothing we can't get around. How do we find the Queen?" Did she say that they could gain power by draining others? That's... interesting.
"I... I don't know... She's probably not too far from Ponyville."
"We just have to search then... I wonder exactly how far I can stretch my sense field now... Time to find out!" I exclaimed, sitting down. "Would you mind watching the door?"
"What are you going to do?"
"Trying to replicate the NSA."

I ignored her obviously confused state and closed my eyes to concentrate on the field. Of course, I couldn't keep my usual level of precision and scan the entire town without frying my brain with an overload of informations, but I decided that I didn't need to be so precise. I twitched my trick here and there and activated my new 'city scan field'. I heard Lyra gasp when I did, meaning that it was probably visible, but I had other problems at hand. Mainly, trying to regulate the insane amount of informations coming from the fact that I could feel every object bigger than a football inside my brain in a five hundred meters radius and trying to localize something in particular in all of that.

That's pretty much how I discovered why there were so few ponies walking outside of the town earlier: they were all in their houses, inside what I would definitely describe as a cocoon of goo, surrounded by changelings.

"Crap, they already have captured a lot of ponies..."
"You can feel them? That's..."
"Compliments later. Where would a Queen be?"
"Hum... Search for a high concentration of cocoons. Queens usually feed a lot more than they should."
"Who wouldn't..." I muttered, as I mentally searched across the town some kind of feeding ground.

It took me some time, but I finally found such a 'supply reserve' inside a house guarded by an entire regiment of changelings wearing armor pieces. I also found what I presumed to be the Queen, shining like a freaking magical lighthouse now that I knew where to find her. It made me worry: she was nearly as powerful as Luna-bitch, and that wouldn't be good for me if I were to fight her. Of course, with Twilight and her friends, we could overpower her by a large margin but... I had some questions to ask. Questions I'd prefer that none knew about. Especially if that Queen could really drain others' power to make it her own.

"Found her. We'll get out of this place and go get her." At least, I hope I'll have enough time to do so before I have to awaken Recto...
"On our own? Shouldn't we warn the Princesses?"
Fuck, a legitimate question. "The Queen has the upper hand. She could take actions and hurt her hostages if she thought that she was in danger. But I don't think she would suspect me to be able to fight her until it's too late." That's a... pretty good point, actually.
"Are sure you can..."
"I fought on equal terms with Luna. I can take her." At least, I hope I can.

She gulped and nodded. I opened the door, only for the pink-monster to pop right in front of me, false disappointment on her face.

"What are you doing in here? You are missing your party!"
"Oh, boo hoo hoo. How would I ever survive such a terrible idea?" I said, trying and failing to walk past her.
"With cake, obviously!" the party freak shrieked in excitement.

She grabbed me and dragged me to the table in the center of the bakery, upon which a gigantic blue and yellow cake with a somewhat accurate depiction of me drawn in the icing. I have to admit that I had to force myself not to drool in front of that beautiful, beautiful confection, but I had some rather urgent matters that needed attending. Like the alarming augmentation of the number of changeling in the bakery.

"Listen, it's nice and all, but I really have to..."
"Hush, silly," she giggled, turning to take a freakishly big and sharp-looking knife behind her, before looking at me with the same hint of madness that scared me a few hours ago. "Now, let's put a smile on that face!"
Heavenly crap! Is she serious?!

I would have jolted away from that psychotic pink monster of a pony, but I was surrounded by either ponies, changelings or the most beautiful peace of edible art ever known to man. Thankfully, it didn't matter, as Twilight sighed and magically grabbed the knife away from her and walked toward me, giving me the handle.

"Don't you think the pony of honor should be cutting the first piece of the cake, Pinkie?"
"Aww... But it's the second funniest part!" she cried, her eyes filling with crocodile tears to try and persuade her friend to give her back her weapon.
"Psycho..." I mumbled as I grabbed the knife, giving attention back to the crowd.
"What was that?" Twilight asked.
"Nothing. Just a human way of thanking people," I innocently answered as I turned to face the appetizing confection.

I don't think my thought process on how to cut that cake is to be relevant, so I'll just skip that part, if you'll let me. Not that you really have a choice, but I'll just tell you that for the most tiny of instants, it involved leprechauns. Do whatever the hell you want with that information.

The part that followed me deciding how to cut that first slice, though, is important. Twilight was nice enough to stay next to me while I manually used a knife for the first time in ages, and it just so happened that while I was grabbing a plate, my mouth was hidden from anybody else but her. Who wouldn't jump at such an opportunity to communicate without the dozen spies knowing it?

"Grab your gang and get back to your castle, now," I whispered just loud enough for her to hear.
"What?" she asked loudly, making me twitch.
"Whoops!" I said as I purposely let go of the plate, making cake fall everywhere. "Sorry, I'll pick that up," I called with a false apologetic smile, kneeling. "Be quiet, idiot!" I whispered again once no one else could see my face. "And help me, you tactless purple horse!" She did so, a perplex expression on her face. "I need you six to go to your castle and to send a letter to Celestia in thirty minutes."
"Why do you..."
"I'll explain later, but it's very important that you don't act suspiciously. Pretend you'rr on your way to organize next step of the pink one's welcome party or whatever. And don't let them out of your sight."
"What about that letter?"
"One word should be enough, if I understand the situation," I whispered as I got up. "Well, seems you've got the rest. I'll go outside for a moment. Us humans need our sun walking and shit. Be back soon."
"Verso!" Twilight called behind me as I walked toward the door.

Thankfully, she didn't continue, as she finally saw the beautifully written 'CHANGELINGS' I left for her in the icing on the floor.

I levitated another slice of that cake on my way out, not letting myself to be deprived of such a masterpiece because of a shapeshifters invasion. I may be mentally unstable, but I'm thankfully still far from that horrifying kind of madness. I sensed that Lyra hastily told something to Bonbon and ran after me as I got outside, and she arrived next to me just as I was finishing my first bite of that delicious stuff. Whoever baked that thing deserves a place in pony-heaven by the way.

"Verso!" she called. "What are..."
"You hungry?" I interrupted her as I walked towards the Queen's headquarters, levitating the cake right next to her face.
"Thanks, but I can't process it. What..."
"Too bad for you. I don't envy your species," I told her, biting into that piece of heaven.
"What are you doing? We can't just..."
"There's about fifteen changelings in that bakery, not taking you into account. I'm not risking my well-being against so many opponents. What did you tell to your food?"
"What... That's not like that!" she yelled at me, half horrified and half blushing.
"Why not? You know, humans can eat horses too, so don't worry about referring about her as..."
"Bonbon's not food! She's... It's more like... I really do love her!"
"If you say so," I said, not convinced.
"Are you calling me a 'lyre', sir?"

I stopped dead in my tracks, my brain simply refusing to mentally process the horror my ears just reported to it. I mean, no sane intelligent being could possibly fall that low, could they? My eyes fell on her flank, seeing lyre depicted there, then moving toward her face as she was grinning like an idiot. It just couldn't, could it?

"Tell me, your real name isn't 'Lyra', is it?"
"Nope," she said with her dumb grin.
"And you're a changeling. Hiding, lying to everyone."
"Yep."

The horrible, horrible truth was slowly crushing me, taking its time.

"Did you make your name out of the most terrible pun ever put to words?"
"I did."

Horrible, horrible truth, ripping my brain apart. That would usually force me to go cry in a corner of our mind, but I didn't currently have the luxury of having someone else to fly this ship while I was questioning the very meaning of the universe. So, instead, I just forced myself to brush it off.

"Okay."

And I resumed my pace.

"Oh, come on!" Lyr... Thingy shrieked in frustration. I like 'Thingy'. It's a beautiful name. Full of meaning. "Aren't you going to react to this?" Thingy continued. "I've literally waited for years to use that one!"
"If you don't ever talk to me again, I may not get brain damage because of you. Go put your food-friend to safety or something. Just... Stay away from me. Forever."
"Hey! I said..."
"Stop talking. I kinda need full use of my brain for the stunt I'm about to pull. Now, shoo!" I said, waving my hand to signal her to get away from me.

She harrumphed in frustration and, thanks the heavens, trotted away from me. Now that I had one problem dealt with, I could just concentrate on the task at hand : getting to that changeling Queen, if possible alive and well. Yeah, that would be great. I finally arrived at my destination and glanced at the house, that looked just like every other house of the town. I waved at the two disguised changelings I saw through the window and knocked lightly on the door.

I sensed that they glanced at each other and hissed something before one of them, disguised as a stallion, walked to the door and peared it open.

"Can I help you?" it asked.
"I think so. You see, I'm new around here, and since I'm an 'exotic creature' according to your mayor, she felt that it would be great if I could at least say hello to most of the townspeople," I said with what I remembered to be a warm smile.
"Oh, is that so? Welcome to Ponyville then, mister..?"
"Call me Verso," I answered. "Oh, and if you could take me to your Queen downstairs, that would be nice."
"Wha..."

I didn't let it finish and kicked the door, bashing it against its head and knocking it out, the bug-like creature taking its true form as it fell. The other changeling lunged at me only to hit my instant-shield head first and falling unconscious on the floor, its disguise dissolving.

I really need to ask Twilight how to get that shield to last longer, now that I'm thinking about it, I thought as I magically closed the door and activated a more precise version of my sense field, that let me know exactly what was happening in the house and its basement.

Downstairs, I felt the changeling Queen hissing and clicking at its guards, surrounded by at least a dozen strange pods with unconscious ponies inside. Half of the Queen's guards left her side and buzzed - get it? Because they're bugs!... Oh, heavens, Lyra rubbed off me... - upstairs, and I simply leaned against the wall in front of the door leading to their position, waiting. Just as the first one was about to reach the heavy, wooden door, I magically bashed it open on its skull with enough force to let me hear a really satisfying 'crack'. Ah... I love this sound... Kinda like music, y'know?

Back to business. The second changeling was flying right behind its friend and I violently closed the door on its neck, again with that beautiful music of cracked chitin, and it fell limp on the ground. I quickly charged a magical energy beam while the third buggy shapeshifter cautiously approached the door. It's horn ignited with magic and it opened it, only to be fried alive by my attack. The two remaining changelings were looking dumbfounded at me and I could feel the Queen's anger a few meters below me. I raised my hands to show that I wasn't willing to continue this fun but senseless fight.

"Don't worry, guys, they're still alive. Well, this one is in a world of hurt," I added, pointing at the fried bug, "but I think he'll be fine."
"What are you doing here, 'human'?" one of nearly spat. "How did you know of our presence?"
Oh, so they know what I am. I'm not sure that's a good thing. "I've come to have a little talk with that Queen of yours. You know, ask questions and everything. I'm a rather curious being, and changelings are so fascinat..."
"How did you know?!" the other one loudly inquired with a surprisingly feminine voice.
"Now, now, if I answer that, I won't have anything left to bargain with you guys. Well, I guess I could still kill you all, but that's beside the point. Oh, and just so you know, if I don't cancel an order of mine in, say, twenty-five minutes, Celestia will know that you're here."

Oh, they didn't like it. Judging by their expressions, I knew I had enraged the girly bug enough to charge me if its... her... Well, I don't really know what term I'm supposed to use with these, so I'm just telling you that the other changeling had to bite her tail and swing her back to stop her from attacking me. It was rather funny to watch, by the way.

The Queen downstairs was fulminating and clicked and hissed something to the changeling next to her. The next second, they had swapped appearance and the two bugs in front of me looked into space for a moment before they made way for me to get to the stairs. I must say that it would have been pretty clever if I couldn't sense their disguise.

"The Queen will see you, human," the girly one said. "But be warned: if it even looks like you're going to attack her Highness, you're dead."
"Oh, woe me, I'm so terrified!" I sarcastically answered as I walked in front of her.

A roaring-like thunderclap that I knew all too much resonated in my skull, followed by a wave of pain, informing me that I had very little time left alone outside.

Dammit, I reinforced his prison just yesterday! I thought, hopefully not letting my panic to be seen by the two bugs. I should have at least had an hour! It's been ten minutes at most! I'll have to be faster than I thought...

I was escorted to another wooden door, that my buggy escort kindly opened for me. Inside hanged the dozen cocooned-ponies that I felt earlier, slightly glowing with a green light. I front of me, a Celestia-sized bug pony with a blueish foam-like mane and tail, wearing a little black crown on the top of its head, was looking at me like it was about to erase me for the surface of the world with her green, nearly cat-like eyes. And, of course, she was also surrounded by four other 'normal-looking' changelings, but it's not like they were that important in any way, were they?

The disguised queen was on her double's right side and had the most venomous stare I had seen in years. Even the excited girly one behind me looked like we were best friends in comparison.

"I am..." the fake Queen started to say.
"Your Highness," I interrupted her, kneeling in front of the real Queen. "Thank you for accepting to see me on such short notice."

Now, her venomous look had disappeared, replaced by a half surprised, half horrified one. Just like I love them.

"How did you..."
"Could you make me the honor of showing me your true appearance, your Highness?" I asked, mockery obvious in my voice.

She grunted and her body was engulfed in green fire for a second as she took her proper body back. Coming to think of it, her fangs looked pretty damn menacing. And the glare she was giving me wasn't making it feel any better.

"How did you find us, human?" she asked with a strangely deformed-sounding voice. "And how are you able to see through our disguise?"
"First of all, you can call me Verso, changeling," I stated. "Secondly, I'll explain that later. Thirdly..."
"You will tell me right now, you filthy ape!" she shouted, her horn filling with energy to form an attack beam.

Fortunately, I was ready for that one and, taking a page out of Celestia's book, I deflected her attack with a magical shield, the beam instead hitting one of her guards and throwing him against a wall. I immediately caught the two changelings behind me in my magical grip and threw them between me and the Queen as meat-shields. The other guards had illuminated their horns and looked ready to bite, hissing like snakes, weirdly enough.

"I think we should all calm down before somebody does something that you will regret, your Highness," I clamly said, tightening my grip on her subjects' neck. "Let's start again: I'm Verso, nice to meet you."

The Queen grinded her teeth and her glare would probably have made a normal man's heart freeze in fear, but I still had the upper hand for the moment. Reluctantly, she replied.

"I am Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings. Now, how did you find us?"
"Isn't that so much nicer?" I remarked. "Now, I'll satisfy your curiosity: I know a spell that allows me to feel my surroundings and can sense the magical imprint of different ponies races. I activated it a few minutes earlier and detected you and your subjects all around the town. So, since I am currently offered asile by the ponies, I decided that it would be a good idea to confront the threat before it was too late."

She didn't look like she was happy with my explanation, and it only took her a few seconds to understand the situation; that her species was in danger simply because of the existence of such a spell. How could they hide, infiltrate and feed off ponies if they couldn't disguise themselves anymore?

"Do... Do the ponies know that spell too?" she asked after a minute of reflexion.
"Not yet."
Her stare concentrated on my head. "So you're the only one who can detect us?"
Oh, crap, I thought. "I gave a message to Princess Twilight Sparkle," I started to lie. For some reason, she snorted. "She'll open it if I don't stop her in now twenty minutes."
"And how does that..."
"It describes the detection spell and explain the current situation. If I don't stop her, she'll send everything to Princess Celestia. You see where I am going?"

She once again grinded her teeth, highly displeased.

"I could still kill you, take your form and stop that damned princess," she stated.
"I don't think so," I replied, still calm. "I fought on equal terms with Princess Luna twice yesterday and the spirit of Chaos is my current protector." She growled in frustration and I continued. "As it is right now, I am able to kill you and your changelings, so don't even try to think you have the upper hand, m'lady."

She was furious. No, furious doesn't even begin to cover the intensity of her rage against me. I don't think there are words to describe how much anger and hatred she must have felt towards me at that precise moment. I loved it, but it was working against my interest.

"Now, I'm not here to fight you. At all," I stated, surprising her. "In fact, I mainly came here to ask you a favor."

There, she was downright confused. I mean, all that I had done until then was knocking her subjects unconscious, insult her and threaten the existence of her entire species. Doesn't look like something any beggar would do, right?

"What do you want?" she cautiously asked.
"First, I want you out of Ponyville. I won't say a thing about your presence at any point, and I'm fairly sure none of the townspeople will remember any of this."
"You're asking for my retreat?"
"That's not a question. If you don't, I will warn Celestia myself, kill every last changeling breathing in this town, keep you barely alive so that I can slowly dissect you alive out of pure curiosity, teach my spell to a massive amount of unicorns and go on a search for other changelings and Queens that I can play with," I stated with a slight spark of amusement deliberately left in my voice.

I don't think she expected such an answer, especially with my nearly happy tone. I don't think anyone would. She looked a bit horrified at the happy smile I was now displaying.

"You bastard..." the girly changeling I was still strangulating managed to hiss.
"Hush, kiddo. Grown ups are talking."
"You couldn't," Chrysalis whispered. "No sentient creature could..."
"Did you know that there isn't any other sentient beings where I come from?" I asked, interrupting her. "Wanna know why?" I didn't wait for her answer and continued. "That's because humans are predators. We killed hundreds of other species. And when we ran out of species to kill, we started to kill each other for made up reasons, or for fun. Do you think that makes us monsters?"

She weakly nodded, shocked. I gave her the most predatory smile I could muster.

"You're right. But here's the catch : I was considered a monster even among them."

She gulped, her irises shrunken to the size of pinpricks. Which was the plan: to get her afraid of me. People tend to run as far away as they can from creatures they fear instead of attacking them. Except when they're humans. Then, they just imprison the fucker, study him and shoot it dead when their crazy cult leader says so. Here's hoping she wasn't like that.

"So, I'll repeat myself: you and your changelings are leaving this place, freeing your prisoners and making sure none of them remember these events. Have I made myself clear, 'your Highness'?"
"... Very..." she growled, angry.
Hum... She could still attack me as soon as I turned my back... Time to get to the good OH SKIES ABOVE, MY FREAKING HEAD! I thought, interrupted by a second wave of intra-cranial pain that nearly made me lose balance. No time to waste, I gotta move on.
"Now, I think you'll appreciate the next part," I said, massaging my temples to get rid of the remnants of my headache. "I won't be teaching my detection spell to anyone, so your kind should be safe. And I won't report any of this to anyone either. You can attack any other city as far as I'm concerned, just not where I'm living. I don't really care what happens to ponykind in general."
"And how do I know I can even trust you, human?"
"You don't. But you should." She looked pretty pissed at my answer, but I didn't have anymore time time to lose to let her think. "So, do we have an agreement, Queen Chrysalis?"
"... We do. I'll order my changelings to free the ponies and to leave Ponyville. We'll need time, though..."
"Don't worry about that. I can watch you evacuating from anywhere in town. You have until sundown tomorrow to go," I said, happy with her cooperation."Well, now that we are no longer in conflict..." I said, releasing the two bug-ponies I was still using as shields,"About the favors I mentioned earlier..."
"Do you really think that I would even consider grant you anything after you threatened not only me, but my subjects and my entire kind, human?!"
"Depends: would you rather have me neutral of indebted to you?"

She looked surprised for a moment, before she gave it a thought for a few seconds and finally looked resigned at me.

"Speak. I'll consider your demands."
"Thank you, your Highness," I said. Heavens, I hate being such a toady... "Could I watch you 'eating'?"
She looked taken aback. "Why in Tartarus would you..."
"I'm curious about how you can consume something as abstract as the feeling of love."
She huffed. "We don't really eat love, that would be ridiculous," she said as she walked closer to a pod. "But pony-magic is infused by their feelings, and love has a lot of power in itself, making it easier to prey on. Now watch."

I watched indeed: through my sense-field, I could watch precisely as she first bit into the pod. Her magic darted through her fangs and penetrated the magical flow of the pony currently unconscious. The link intensified during half a second before it stabilized and she started to 'suck' out the pony's magic via this connection. The magical flow directed itself toward her stomach and accumulated there until she stopped leeching on the pony and broke the link.

The foreign magic was still different from her own, resting inside her belly, not showing any clear sign that it was reinforcing her in any way.

Looks like she can prey onto others rather quickly, but how does she get more powerful that way?
"Satisfied?" Chrysalis asked as she walked back in front of me.
"It was fascinating," I answered, not about ask her to explain the process entirely and risk her thinking I wasn't as strong as she thought. "Now, my second favor: can we stay into contact?"

Once again, she looked nearly shocked at my demand. I mean, I understand why she would: who in their right mind would like to stay in contact with a dangerous creature threatening to end their very existence?

"Why would you..."
"Well, to be fair, I've been with the ponies for only a day and a half. Who knows if I'll want to stay in their company in a year or so? Better to have somewhere else to turn to, don't you think?"
"And why would I..."
"You would get to monitor my actions and maybe gain my support if you try something big like, I don't know, fighting the princesses?"
"I... Wait there for a minute," she said.

She only glanced at a few of her guards and retreated a bit further in the basement, followed by them, which lead me to theorize that at least some of them were advisors. Meanwhile, girly-bug was glaring impending doom at me.

"What do you want, bug?" I asked. Hey, it's funny how she has the same eyes as the Queen, I remarked. Must be some sort of changeling fashion.
"You're the the most arrogant, monstrous and disgusting creature I've ever seen, ape."

I found it funny how every other changeling around us stopped chatting and just looked at her like she was completely crazy. To be fair, I was kinda looking at her that way too. Then, I don't really know why, but I laughed.

"Hahaha! Oh, you're a funny one?" I said. "For a moment, I thought you wanted me to break your legs and to rip your wings off, you know?"
"You're just saying words since the beginning," she said. "You haven't proved to be half as strong as you pretend to be."
Oh, crap... I thought as the changelings started to stare at me with doubt in their eyes. I sighed. I really shouldn't do that when that bastard is attempting to break out, but I don't really have a choice, do I?
"You're saying that I'm bluffing, am I right?" I asked, as I mentally prepared myself for my next stunt.
"I am," she replied.
"Okay."

Right after that one-word answer, I used an old complicated trick I had up my sleeves and 'ignited' my power. It was supposed to make me look more intimidating by displaying a good part of my magic, but it didn't do much back on Earth. But here, in Equestria, where my power has grown by an immeasurable amount, it is much, much more effective than I first thought. I felt the ground shake around us, just as my own aura surrounded me, making me apparently float with power. My eyes turned entirely yellow and started to emit light, and my voice was like a hurricane when I talked.

"IS THAT ENOUGH FOR YOU, YOU OVERGROWN COCKROACH, OR DO I HAVE TO ERASE YOUR PITIFUL EXISTENCE FROM THE FACE OF THIS WORLD TOO?" I kinda roared in her face, throwing her against a pod simply by talking.
"Enough!" Chrysalis shouted, and I stopped my spell, a bit weary. "Don't you dare threaten another of my subjects again, human! I may not be willing to face you right now, but don't think I am not able to!"
"As childish as it sounds, she started," I replied, examining my nails to hide my shortness of breath.
She glared at me for an instant before she turned to look at the girly-bug. "And I should have known better than to bring you with me this time, Nymph!" she scolded her. "Your attitude is unbecoming of a changeling princess!"

If I had been drinking, I would have spitted everything out in an instant.

"Yes, mother..." she replied, glaring nastily at me while I was just staring wide-eyed at her.

Okay, let me stop right there for a moment. I want you to remember that Chrysalis, the Queen, had sent some of her guards to attack me earlier. I will also remind you that two of them were currently having a severe head trauma and that I nearly fried the last one to death. And you're telling me that amongst the guards she had sent to stop a threat of unknown power was her own daughter? And that this princess had also be irritating me and insulting me since then, nearly provoking me enough to kill her here and there, maybe dooming her entire species to be hunted down? Needless to say, I was stunned by such a level of caring by the mother and hotheadedness by the daughter.

I needed some time to process that. But Chrysalis and the bastard giving me killer headaches didn't want this to happen. First, I felt the drawback of my little stunt when a new, horribly painful wave of thunderous screams resonated to my ears, and nearly making me fall as I lost balance for a second. I thankfully caught myself soon enough so that the Queen didn't see any of this. Instead, she turned to glare at me and to give me her decision.

"I'll leave a changeling in Ponyville with you. She'll be able to communicate with me. Don't try to trick us, human. Even with your abilities, you wouldn't like the result."
"Don't worry about it, your Highness. And I still have a name."

She didn't even give it a speck of attention and continued.

"Now, get out of here," she growled. "We have work to do."

I bowed slightly and walked outside of the house, careful not to be seen, still keeping an eye on them via my sense field until they were out of my normal reach. I headed towards Twilight's Palace, checking my internal clock.

Crap, I have less than three minutes left!

I ran as fast as my body would let me , entered the Palace and found the throne room in which all of Twilight's group of friend were waiting, visibly distressed. Spike was holding a scroll in his claw and was breathing in, just as I typically thought a dragon would before her torched something.

"Don't you dare send that letter!" I shouted.

I magically pulled that piece of paper out of his hand just in time to save it from the fire escaping the little dragon's mouth. I then faceplanted against the rock hard floor when another horrible headache decided to show the tip of its ugly nose.

"Ow..." I groaned weakly.
"Recto!" Fluttershy exclaimed, running to me. "Are you alright?"
"Your correspondent is not reachable at the moment, please call again later..." I groaned as I rolled on my back, still dizzy, showing them that I was currently alone in the commands.

Fluttershy squeaked and stepped back, just to let Twilight's purple face to pop above me.

"Verso! Could you please explain me what's going on? You just left me alone with your message and vague instructions!"
"Hey, tone it down a little bit, would you? I'm having a migraine, and your high-pitched voice isn't helping." She muttered a soft 'sorry' and moved back as I sat on the floor. "Plus, my instructions were clear: you just had to gather your friends here and to send Celestia the word 'changeling' half-an-hour after I left you."
"That doesn't explain anything!" she cried in frustration.
"Yeah! What do these things have to do with anything?" Ms. Flying Colors asked. Loudly.
"Ouch, my head!" I groaned again. "And it doesn't mean anything!"
"Then, why did you..."
"Your world is interfering with my sense spell!" I lied. "Made me feel like some ponies were something else. Based on what I asked to Twilight, I thought they were these 'changelings' or whatever. So I went out to check it and covered the possibility that I was right by getting you out of there and making you contact Celestia if I was confronted to them. But it looks like my spell is catching interferences or something with around here that warp my sight, if you would."
"So, you made us all worry about nothing?" Twilight asked, clearly not pleased.
"Uh... Yeah?" I barely whispered.

I don't like remembering how much she shouted at me then. Especially when I had to endure it while that bastard was maintaining my migraine. Heavens know that I should have awaken Recto by that point, but it would have made the conversation much more tricky to me, where I could just invent a good version of that story to give him later. All in all, I got out of this mess with an army calmly leaving Ponyville without hurting anyone, a course on leeching magic, a contact with another species leader, a slice of cake and being assigned to the next three book-reshelving, whatever they were.

All in all, not such a bad day.

Author's Note

And a nearly all-Verso chapter, with a bit of action. I'm sorry to disappoint those who thought that he would just go all 'rage monster' and eradicate every changeling in sight, though. But he still knocked out, like, five of them! That's great already, isn't it?
In the next chapter: Pinkamena, cupcakes, rainbows and bad news.
As always, I'll appreciate if you could point out what you liked and disliked.
See you soon on the next chapter: The Crazy Baker.

Chapter 15: Double Takes

Oh, Heavens above, my freaking head! Verso cried in our mind once again.
"That's what you get for telling me to sleep without any reason and scaring miss Twilight and her friends!" I told him aloud, still not happy with what he had done. "You seriously thought there were shape shifting monsters in Ponyville just because your sense field went wrong?"
Okay, I got it, no more looking like an idiot trying to save us all. Now, leave me alone with the worst headache in human history. Thinking and being a disembodied voice kinda hurt like hell.

I sighed and looked around in our room. Apparently, Verso had gone wrong with his spell and thought some ponies were dangerous monsters, ready to attack on sight. What a silly idea. Mister Discord said we weren't in any danger! And of course, he had to frighten miss Princess Twilight, her friends and Spike, nearly leading to a big national panic if he hadn't stopped them before they sent a letter to miss Princess Celestia. And to think he probably terrorized miss Lyra! She probably wouldn't want to be our friend after that...

And he just woke me up, retreated to the back of our mind and started shouting words I am not allowed to write at the headache he usually gets when he stays out alone for too long. Don't say he didn't get what he was looking for!

Anyway, when I showed up, a bit confused as Verso woke me up in a hurry without explaining anything, miss Twilight didn't looked pleased at all, probably didn't notice that I was in command and sent us to our room to think about what he had done. Needless to say, confused didn't even start to describe how I was feeling when we were punished like this. I didn't even know you could really end up sent in your room as a punishment! Isn't that where we spent most of our time anyway? What kind of punishment is that? It sounds silly.

But then, I understood : staying in our room meant that we didn't get to go outside and look at... well, everything, until we weren't grounded anymore. That's like, really cruel! I mean, we've waited for years to discover the outside world, it here, right outside, barely a meter away, and we can't go there. Truly horrible!

"At least, we still have a window!" I happily noted.

I walked to it and started gazing outside. Well, at least I would have, but it just so happened that there was a familiar flying blue pony that was pressing her face against the glass to peak inside. We looked at each other without moving for a second before she pointed at the lock with her hoof. As soon as I unlocked it, Rainbow Dash burst inside our room, slipped on the rather slippery cristal floor when she tried to land, and finally crashed against the opposite wall. I think Verso laughed for a second before he remembered that thinking was painful, and therefore cried in agony.

"Are you okay?" I asked as she stood up, canaries flying in circles over her head.

... Wait, what?

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, shaking her head and making the puzzling illusion disappear.
"Of course, she's alright! She crashes all the time!" an excited voice came from the window. Which was strange, because I confirmed with a glance, and there was nobody there.
"Uh..." I muttered.
"Hey, you know what, I think Twilight was a bit hard with you earlier," Dash said. "Wanna come with us and have fun in town?"
"Oh, boy, do I?" I answered with an energetic nod. "Wait, 'us'?"
"Yeah! Dashie and I! Us!" the excited voice said from the window again. And I still saw nobody there.
Uh, Verso, I think I'm hearing voices...
Well, what a scoop, he painfully grunted with all the sarcasm he could mutter. This is something totally new and weird for us.
Hey, no need to be grumpy against me! I replied. "Why are you always so mean when you're having headaches..?" I whispered for myself.
"Uh? You said something?"
"No! I mean, yes! I mean... Won't that just anger miss Twilight further?"
"Nah, I'm sure she'll be cool with that."
"And I'm sure Verso and you will have so much fun!" the voice from the window continued.
"Okay, what's going on? Is that window... haunted?" I asked stepping away from it.

I mean, it was the most logical possibility. Verso keeps saying that it made much more sense that what was really happening, you know.

"What? No! How could a window be haunted? And what kind of lame ghost would haunt windows?"
A multi-billions dollar company? Ugh, my head...
"Your window is haunted? That's so weird!" said Pinkie Pie as her head poked out of the window for a second before disappearing again.
"Uh..." I hesitated.
What is the pink horror doing up there? I thought we were several meters above the ground? Verso exclaimed in surprise, ignoring the pain.

I went up to the window to find out that Pinkie had just installed some kind of device - a trampoline, Verso told me - right underneath us and was bouncing on it. That looked awesome! And I guess it also explained the voice we kept hearing. I turned to Rainbow Dash.

"So, do we just get out of our room by the door ? Because miss Twilight said we were grounded."
"Nah, she would try to stop us," she answered, walking to us, examining us. "We're going to use the window."
"Great!.. Wait, how are we doing it? I don't think we can fly."
"Like that," Rainbow Dash said, smiling as she just slightly pushed us with her hooves.

I have to say, Verso and I were both really surprised as we fell over the windowsill toward the ground. I just blinked, not really understanding while he screamed and fought his way to the commands despite his head-splitting migraine. We hit the ground before he could do anything, though, and I found it strangely... soft?

Turns out we fell on a big cushion that Pinkie Pie had prepared for us. Still, it had been pretty surprising and we were frozen in shock, wondering what had just happened. Then Rainbow Dash's head appeared above us, laughing out of control, at least until Verso's rage broke him out of his shock and our arm shot to grab her by the neck, his eye burning in anger.

"Never. Do. That. Again." he said, his piercing gaze staring right into her eyes. She hastily nodded and he let her go before retreating back in the recess of our mind, groaning in a strange mix of pain and mean words I am not allowed to repeat.
"Oh, you've got to admit it was a pretty funny one," she croaked when he released her.

I don't think what he thought back is polite enough for me to repeat, and I didn't even understand half of his rant before his headache kicked in and left only a gurgling mess of pain. I translated:

"That was awesome ! Can we do it again ?" I asked, excited.
No! Verso somehow successfully shouted.
Oh, you're no fun.
"That's right!" Pinkie confirmed.
See, even Pinkie says so.
There is no fun in... Wait, what?

I turned to face Pinkie Pie, looking back at me with a toothy smile. Before I could ask anything, a visibly stressed Rainbow Dash moved between us.

"Maybe we should get going before Twilight sees us. She can get pretty crazy from time to time."
I, for one, do not like hearing that.
"Okay, maybe we should..." I said, looking for the trampoline and the cushion that were nowhere to be found."...clean this up. Uh."
What the fuck? Verso bluntly stated.
"Hurry, let's go!" Rainbow Dash said, walking toward Sugarcube Corner.
"We're going to eat ALL the leftovers!" Pinkie Pie excitedly completed, drooling as she bounced away in the same direction, leaving us alone for a moment.
"Did she hear you?" I asked.
Seems so, Verso grunted. We'll have to confirm. And now, I'll just shut the hell up and hope the migraine goes away.
"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" I asked, starting to catch up with the ponies.
Maybe. But I don't feel like 'sleeping' right now. Now, hush, I'm not here.

I caught up with Pinkie and Rainbow Dash just as he decided to nearly fade out of our mind, and we walked to the bakery with the pink pony blabbering something about cakes. I would have interrupted her to get answers about her hearing us even when we don't speak out loud, but she got me salivating the instant I heard her. By the time we arrived to the bakery, I was nearly drooling, and Dash was pleading for Pinkie to please be quiet and stop torturing us all.

She didn't.

So you can probably understand us when I say that we burst inside ready to devour the first pastry that would have the honor of being in our line of sight. Too bad that there weren't anything left from the party Verso made us leave. So while Dash and I were crying on the floor, another pony wearing a bag and a funny hat walked out of the kitchen and talked to Pinkie.

"Well, you're all set up, Pinkie. We're leaving you the kitchens this afternoon, like we said. Just don't forget to clean up after you're done."
"Of course mister Cake. Thank you very much!"

The pony walked out and Dash and I were on Pinkie's hooves immediately.

"We were promised cake!" I whined. "The cake was a lie!"
"Of course not, silly!" Pinkie giggled. "We just have to make one!"
I was confused. "'Make one'? Is that possible? As in, the laws of reality actually allow us to make them?"
"You're really weird, you know?" Rainbow asked, looking at me as if I had said something stupid.
"And you are a talking, flying pony with a rainbow mane," I said as I nodded in confirmation. "The balance of the world is safe."
"Uh..."
"Of course we can bake cakes, you silly filly!" Pinkie said, somehow grabbing Dash and us and dragging us behind the counter and into the shop's kitchen. "And we're going to bake some cupcakes right now!"
"But I don't know how to cook anything!" I said, hearing some music notes coming out of nowhere. Which is really, really weird.
"And I'm officially forbidden to come near any kind of kitchen furniture in Cloudsdale!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Oh, it's pretty simple," she said, climbing on a table that I could swear wasn't here a second before. "Here let me explain:"

And that's when she started singing. It was a pretty funny song about making cupcakes, kinda catchy and exciting. But it was so weird : during the dance accompanying her song, she somehow moved from one place in the kitchen to behind us even though we were still seeing her. And the ingredients and utensils she was talking about in her song appeared out of nowhere the moment she needed them. She even got a batch of cupcakes finished by the end of her two-minutes-long song, which isn't really possible. Verso weakly asked me to activate my own sense field in the middle of it so that we could at least try to understand what in the world we were seeing. And that only raised more questions, 'cause neither of us could understand a thing.

Still, I somehow - I seem to be using that word a lot when I'm talking about Pinkie Pie - knew everything I needed to know to bake cupcakes when she was finished. Verso was mentally gaping, Pinkie Pie was smiling happily, Rainbow Dash was looking at a cookbook as if it were common place and I was clapping. I don't even know why. Or when I started. It ended and I was clapping.

Weird.

Even though, we spent the next two hours baking and eating what we baked and starting again. It was fun - and tasty. Well except for Rainbow's cupcakes. I don't think I would accept to eat one of those for our weight in chocolate milk. Ever.

I will never get that... that 'taste' out of my mind. Bleh...

Verso had finally got his headache under control when Rainbow Dash said she had to leave. Something about cloud storing problems she had to fix. Anyway, it left us alone with Pinkie Pie. And so, Verso wanted to secretly verify whether or not she could hear him.

Hey, Pink horror, do you hear me?

Pinkie answered by loudly gnawing on one of our latest cupcakes, while Verso forbade me to eat anymore. They were good, but incredibly unhealthy, and we kinda liked our teeth not rotten. Huh, back to business.

Hey, the ridiculous pink deformed horse, I'm talking to you!
Why are you so mean with her? She made us cakes!
She responded to that last time. It's only fair to assume that she will react this time too. Doesn't seem to do much, though... he said as he watched Pinkie Pie doing nothing out of the field of possibilities.
Maybe she doesn't hear you and it was just a coïncidence?
It's always a possibility, but her phrase completed yours, and only yours. Hum... He thought for a second before a metaphorical lightbulb metaphorically lit above his metaphorical head. Ah ah! There was another time when she reacted to our thoughts!
Oh?
Yeah. Watch me: Parties suck and are useless!

The reaction was immediate: she flinched and glared at Verso with the cold, dangerous eyes she glared at us when we disembarked the train. And, unlike he had done then, his mind just froze numb for a few seconds, with Pinkie glaring at him all the while. Somehow.

When Verso finally returned to his mind, he was still a bit scared , and strangely confused, but he didn't try to get to the front. Pinkie smiled and started ranting something about a cupcake recipe.

So? I asked. Do you think she can?
I... Yes, he said with a strangely squeaky voice before he got a hold on himself. Yes, she can. No need to investigate any further. He stopped for a moment, putting his thoughts together. What time is it? You think Twilight may notice we've gone for hours? We should head back to the palace.

I agreed. I didn't think it would ever happen to me, but I had had enough cupcakes for the moment. I know, I know, kinda hard to think about it, but I swear it's true. Anyway, I concentrated back on the real world conversation.

"... and I said: 'Oatmeal? Are you crazy?!'" Pinkie Pie finished, laughing so hard she was having a hard time standing up. Too bad I missed the joke...
"Pinkie, I think I should go back to miss Twilight's crystal tree house. We don't want her to worry too much."
"Aw, but we were just getting started!" she whined, looking down. She perked up the next instant, though. "I'll come with you to see her. Maybe she would like to bake cupcakes too!"
NO! Uh, I mean, she still has to clean that place up.
Shouldn't we help her?
And risk breaking something?

That was a somewhat good point. And looking around us, the kitchen really needed to be cleaned. Rainbow Dash and I weren't particularly clean, and Pinkie Pie tended to be messy when she was having fun. In fact, it looked like a tornado passed through the room, got out and came back again for a good laugh.

"Maybe you should clean this up?" I asked.
She blinked and looked around her. "Oh, yeah... Well, I guess I have to shoo you out of here now." She waved a hoof in our direction, prompting me to leave. "Leave auntie Pinkie Pie to her work. Go on, shoo!"
I shrugged. "See you later, I guess," I said as I left.

I walked back to the Crystal Tree-house of Awesomeness without anything noteworthy happening, except for Verso relaxing more and more as we put farther away from Sugarcube Corner. That didn't last long, as the annoying he constantly has when we get near the crystal tree-castle returned soon. I stopped before the doorway, hesitating.

"You think I should knock? I don't think miss Twilight would hear it."
Then why bother? Just go in and try avoiding her as much as you can.
"But that would be impolite!" I retorted. "In the books and movies, they always knock on the door before entering, except when they are coming to arrest someone."
We're not in a sky-damned book or movie. Open the the door and sneak back in our room. I'm sure it'll be fun.
"Oh, yes!" I exclaimed, slightly more excited. "Just like we did with the guards!"
Yeah... Exactly like that.

I smiled and moved a hand to open the door, only for it to glow purple and open on its own, revealing a rather panicked purple alicorn that ran into us at ful speed, sending us both to the ground. She didn't even look at us as she tried to get up.

"Move! One of Princess Celestia's guests has disappeared! I must find him!"

She then remembered she had wings and flew away in a hurry, leaving us on the ground, confused out of our minds. Spike ran out of the castle and saw us.

"You're here!" he said with relief. "Twilight's just went to your room to allow you un-ground you and she said you had disappeared!"
"I saw, that," Verso replied as he picked ourselves up. "She didn't, though."
"We have to tell her you're fine!"
Verso looked up to a moving purple alicorn in the sky. "Just wait a second."

Miss Twilight stopped soon after he said that, turned around, screamed something in frustration and flew back to us, glaring laser beams at us.

"Yo," Verso casually said, waving at her.
"Do you have any idea how worried I was?!" she shouted back.
"About what? It's not like this town is dangerous or anything. You know, since I was wrong about the changelings."
"Princess Celestia placed you under MY responsibility! I can't let anything happen to you!"
"Well, Pinkie Pie showed us how to make cupcakes," I said. "Is this a bad thing?"
"Pinkie knew where you were?" she hissed.
"Well, yeah. The pink one and your blue flying friend brought us out of our room a few hours ago."
Miss Twilight went livid with anger. "You've been gone for HOURS?!"
"Yep. What a great guardian you make."

That last comment may have been a little more than miss Twilight could handle. She tried to fight her anger down, her face turned red and her pupils shrank into 'I'm gonna cut your head off' mode.

And then, she exploded.

Yeah, that was pretty amazing to watch: her body exploded in light, revealing a new form. White coat, red pupils, fire mane. And I mean fire mane, as in 'made out of fire'. Her eyes looked like they could actually shoot lasers and she was levitating without visible magic.

It looked awesome.

Verso jumped back and grabbed Spike, using him as a very confused dragon-shield. He activated his sense field even though he wasn't really worried about our security. It clearly changed when he felt her magical power shining like a small sun in his field. Then, he was really worried.

And, as quickly as she exploded, she calmed down, her coat only slightly blackened by the flammes. Her mane was in total disarray though. She rubbed the brink of her nose with a hoof.

"I'm just... I'm relieved you're okay," she finally said. "But next time, please tell me you're going somewhere before leaving. Especially when I told you to stay in your room."
That annoyed Verso for some reason. Who does she think she is? he somewhat angrily growled. We don't have to follow her orders.
Well, we do live in her house, so I think she gets to decide. Verso snorted and I rolled my eyes. "Okay, miss Twilight. I'm... We're sorry we made you worry about us."

Miss Twilight gave me a plain look, probably already guessing that someone wasn't sorry at all, but the shook her head and pointed entered the palace, Spike behind.

"Come in. We have a lot of experiments to run!" she said, excitement in her voice. "I want to test how good you are at magic."
I really don't like most of those words, but I guess magic training will be pretty interesting.
"Yay!"

As soon as the Pink horror glared at me again, it felt like the entire world froze as a familiar sense of horror I know all too well crept inside my soul. I was sucked into that horrible room, unable to see the physical world anymore. The weight of the chains circled around my body as I 'awoke' there. I quickly looked around me: the bed, the lightbulb and the thing were all I could see, as always. My breath was short and I could feel my heat pounding in my ears. Thankfully, I had finally calmed down the bastard for now, so the terrifying roars of thunder weren't here.

I tried to go back out, to see what was happening, but something didn't let me. Something that had a familiar feeling that made me shiver a lot more than that horrible thunder.

"Where are you?" I screamed in the room. "Show yourself!"
"Oh, but I will, little traitor," I heard back.

I could try to describe the voice, but no words can truly reflect how it was. It was somewhat feminine, that was for sure, but I couldn't tell why I was under that impression. It resonated all around me, the room resonating with its power. And it had me fall to my knees instantly, tears in my eyes. It was exactly like the other ones.

"Oh, don't be afraid, little traitor. I have no ill business with you... yet," it said, somehow concentrating in one spot in the room. "Here, I'll even try to comfort you a bit."

Pink, greasy goo oozed from the ground near me and slowly turned into a disgusting pile of faded pink. The pile slowly took the form of the pony currently haunting my reality. And so, a greyish Pinkie Pie with straight hair and icy, nearly glowing, eyes and a disturbing smile appeared in the sacrosanct of my soul. That was not a good thing. At all.

"What are you?" I whispered.

I must confess, I was completely terrorized in front of her. It didn't get better when it started moving around, looking at the metaphorical walls and their inscriptions.

"You know fairly well what I am, little traitor," it answered. It pointed at the Door. "I'm somewhat like them, and somewhat not."

I would have probably ran away if I could. But here, there was no escape. Especially since that thing was imprisoning me in this room. So, I did the next best thing: asking questions.

"Why are you..."

Of course, it didn't have the courtesy of letting me.

"You are trying to annoy me and my host, little traitor." It turned to face me and its eyes... Let's just say I crawled back to the opposite wall. It didn't stop smiling though. "I do not like it." It turned back at the scenery and poked the Door. "So that's what it looks like, huh?"
"I..."
"You are being irritating with my host and I. In fact, you are being irritating with everything." It walked toward me, stopping only centimeters away from me. "I know why you can't help it. Why you are always 'grumpy' and why he is always 'joyful'." It saw the horror in my eyes and it's smile got wider. It indicated the bed with its head. "And I know just who to tell for your darkest dreams to come true."
"You..."
"But don't worry! I'm not like Father or Guardian. I'm just an observer. I just play along."
"Why?" I finally asked.
"Because it is. So. Much. FUN!" she answered happily. "You mortals are so funny! You search for purpose where there is none, and better yet, you find it! You spend your blink of an existence trying to change your world and even though you last only an instant, you succeed!" She walked around the room as she talked. "For what even I would define as a long time, I watched you all from everywhere, seeing each and every input you make into your little world, watching as you slowly changed the world around you before you disappear. It was interesting, for a time.But I could predict most of what was happening, so it got boring. So I asked Guardian to let me change my point of view, to let me see the changes from the inside. And Guardian accepted, under several conditions." It turned back to me. "I have very little power here. I choose an host, propose to give it some power in exchange of letting me see through its eyes, and I make it forget I'm even here at all!"

I slowly rose to my feet, uncertain. It was one of them for sure, but it was different. It was nearly sane, in a way. I didn't think it would really hurt me, so I could concentrate on what was important: getting as much info out of it as I could.

"You say you are weakened in this place?"
It popped in front of me, gazing into my eyes. "Oh, yes. I cannot act here. Guardian doesn't let me. But I don't care. I'm having so much FUN!" It started laughing happily.
Okay, sane definitely isn't a good word for it. "Does that mean that..."
"Oh, no. The others aren't weakened as I am," it answered, its laughter stopping abruptly. "Guardian didn't brought them here. They cannot come in this world without his accord." I would have shouted in happiness, but it continued. "But you are their focal point, little traitor. They have their full power through you. You have the power to bring them, and they want to come. The Guardian cannot prevent them for taking you and using you."

My heart broke and I fell to my knees once again, tears of mixed anger and despair rolling on my face.

"There's just no way out, is there?" I whispered.
"I don't know," it said with a shrug, before its sickly smile returned to its face. "Do you have any idea how fantastic it is to be able to honestly say that? It's amazing!"
I got a hold on myself got up to my feet again. "Why are you telling me this? Isn't that acting?"
"Oh, I came to tell you to stop irritating me intentionally. I may have drifted a bit from the subject, but I'm sure it won't have any consequences," I said with a wink. "I wonder how Guardian's, Father's and Their's plots will come along. I'm sure it will be fascinating! Oh, and before I go," it added as it was fading away,"don't tell anything I was here. I can't seal your memories, so you better be cautious with them."
"Wait!" I called. "Who are 'Father' and 'Guardian'? How do you know their intentions? Why..."
Its voice giggled in the void. "Come on, now, you know I can't answer these question, little traitor. You'll figure out soon enough. And don't forget: try to smile!"

Its presence left the room and I felt the world starting again outside. I took a few seconds to think, and decided what to do.

"I have to learn how to stop him," I concluded as I was watching the door. "And I must find this Guardian." I looked outside, the pink unsuspecting host ranting about her sweets. "Maybe Purple Horse knows something about it..." I glanced at the door. "No, magic first. No use to search for this guardian if I can't hold him back long enough to find him."

Author's Note

I'm not dead! Woohoo! I know you missed me.
... You did, right?
Anyway, before I fall into a sudden pit of lack of self-esteem and you have to wait months for the next chapter to be written, I'm really sorry I didn't finish this one sooner. Kinda.
You see, I had actually finished my chapter 15 at the start of the month and I was about to publish it, when I re-read the 14th, realised I hadn't written something REALLY important for this chapter, and I realized that I couldn't use my first draft for it.
Picture me screaming at kittens.
So, I rewrote it entirely, finished again, re-read it and realized that this time, I had put something that should come later in the story in this chapter and articulated this second draft around it.
Picture me throwing kittens at kittens in an attempt to create some sort of kitten appartheid. Didn't work, by the way.
So this is actually the third attempt at making this chapter, and I hope it holds up. I'd hate to realize tomorrow that I forgot something.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it !
Nest chapter: Magic, books and History.

Chapter 16: On how to cheat at learning

I looked at the glass cup with uncertainty, and glanced at miss Twilight, who had piles of horn-written notes around her. Spike was running between her and the ink-and-scroll supply as fast as he could to keep her afloat. She was smiling gleefully and nodded in my direction. I focused on the cup ten meters away from us and carefully grabbed it with my magic. The cup slowly rose above the ground and levitated to me until I could catch it in our hand. When I did, I cheered.

"Woohoo! Finally didn't break it on the way!" It was somewhat of a good news for this cup: its nine predecessors weren't as lucky.
"Fantastic!" Twilight said as her quill flew quickly over her current notepad. "Only ten tries to get it right means you have the ability of an eight year old filly to adapt your magic to the situation already. This is fascinating!"
Wow. She said that so gleefully I barely recognized it as an insult. She's good.
"Yay!" I cheered again, ignoring Verso's mean and bored comment.
I thought she would show us spells and whatnot! This is excruciating!
"Now that I know your level, Recto, I'll have to mesure Verso's. I know he's powerful, but I need to properly measure his mastery."
"And how do you intent to do that?" Verso asked as soon as he got to the front. "Because levitating cups just won't cut it."

Miss Twilight smiled and indicated a big device that looked like a modified turbine next to her.

"This is a Harmonic Resonance Tester," she said. "It is used to test the pure magical strength of a blessing. As powerful as you are, I think it will be a good way to judge it."
'The strength of a blessing'? Are you supposed to pray it until it works?
No, a blessing is the name of a group of unicorns.
Oh.
"So what do I have to do?" Verso asked.
"Simple," miss Twilight said, her horn lighting.

A purple beam shot off her horn and hit the device, which immediately started to run, the turbine accelerating quickly before she stopped alimenting it. Verso looked doubtfully at her.

"You want me to shoot at it as hard as I can?"
"Basically, yes."

He shrugged and popped our joints, before he inspected the magical motor further.

"I wonder how it works..." he whispered.

He snapped a finger and deployed his sense field. He then raised a hand and shot a magic beam at the machine. And bruised its metallic encasement. He immediately stopped and looked at miss Twilight, annoyed.

"Do we even have the same definition of 'shooting at it'?"
"Why are you trying to damage it?" she shrieked, running towards the device to inspect it.
"You fucking told me to shoot laser beams at it!" he responded. "Good thing I have half a brain and didn't go all out immediately!"
"But why are you shooting them with the intent of destroying it?"
He gave her a plain look. "Laser beams. They destroy things. That's what they do."
"The intent of the spell is able to change its effects," she explained, sighing. "If you want to power it, your magical beam will power it."
"That's crappy theory," Verso said, crossing our arms. "The spell you used to power that thing and the one I used must be different."
"No, they're not!"
"Well then, show me again. I'll be able to see the difference between our beams with my field."

She sighed and her horn lit again, Verso carefully inspecting how she manipulated her magic this time. And was very disappointed.

"That's the same fucking spell."
"See? I told you!"
"Well then, miss purple horse, let me try again."

He charged another beam and aimed it at the machine again, actively thinking 'power, not harm' when he shot. And the magic worked, the turbine slowly accelerating. He then grinned and started to bring in more and more power into his magical energy beam, making the turbine go faster and faster until he couldn't overcharge his spell anymore. He stopped after several seconds, our breath short, and looked at miss Twilight. Who was now writing on three notepads at once.

"How good was that?" he asked, a bit winded out.
"Astonishingly good," miss Twilight answered. "Why did you stop?"
"I'm not going to exhaust myself for a test. I did shoot as powerfully as I could, though."
"Can you estimate how long you could have lasted at this rate?"
"I'd say around five seconds. I'd have to leave the reins to Recto for a moment afterwards, though."
"Interesting..." miss Twilight muttered.
"So? How powerful am I?"
"I'd say you're nearing alicorn-level." She trotted in place in her excitement. "This is passionating! I don't think of anypony else that ever reached that level naturally, except for Discord and Starswirl the Bearded!"
I snorted. He had a funny name!
"'Naturally'?" Verso asked, suddenly interested. "You mean there are ways to enhance one's magic?"
"Of course," miss Twilight answered without looking up from her notepad. "There are some magical artifacts that can do just that. And you can say that King Sombra's dark magic is another way to do so. And, of course, Tirek did so a few months ago too by stealing ponies' magic." She stroked her chin, lost in her thought. "Now that I think about it, it's mostly bad guys that try to get more magical powers..."
Verso gritted our teeth. "Don't come to conclusion too quickly, sciency horse. Correlation doesn't imply causation."
Miss Twilight nodded and stayed silent while she finished writing something. When she finally took her eyes off her notepad and looked at us, she continued. "Now that I have an idea of your magical power, I'll need to measure your adaptability."
"Please don't tell me I'll have to levitate cups. That would be boring as fuck."
"Language..." she muttered before walking to an oddly shaped metallic ball. "I want you to levitate this and keep it as steady as possible."
Verso glanced at it through his sense field and grinned. "It has a gyroscope inside. I'm willing to bet that it's supposed to move randomly?"
"Exactly!" miss Twilight confirmed. "The deviation in your grip will show me your adaptability."

Verso shrugged and raised the gear-o-scope... huh, gyroscope - the other sounds soooo cooler... - and held it in place. Miss Twilight then activated the mechanism inside with her own magic while deploying a ruler next to its case and waited.

For a good twenty seconds, the ball didn't move at all in Verso's grip. It tried, of course, but Verso's magical hold was too strong for it. Miss Twilight, frowned and put more power inside the ball, until it finally twitched a little. She then continued to pour magic inside the ball until Verso had trouble keeping it in place. When she was satisfied with the results, Miss Twilight stopped and told him to gently put the ball down.

"Well, that was pretty good too," she said. "You definitely have a good hold on your magic, Verso."
"Thank you. Do you still need me active? Being on the front inside of this place gives me headaches. I don't like it."
"Do as you want, but stay alert. We'll be heading for the library now." She gave an excited smile as I took the reins back. "We'll get you some books about theoretical magic for beginners!"
Oh, goody.
That sounds ominous, but if she is excited, it must be fun. Doesn't it?

It wasn't fun. At all. It. Was. Horrible! And here I thought our lessons back on Earth were boring, but it somehow was even worse! How can you get magic lessons to be so boring?

Well, to be fair, it wasn't entirely miss Twilight's fault, as we first had trouble finding a book we could even read. When we didn't, she decided that she would have to read it to us and drew the pictures on a blackboard. That's when it started to bore the heaven out of me. Of course; Verso would have taken over and explained it all to me later in an instant, but since he didn't like being on the front inside the palace, I didn't force ask him to and just watched the entire thing. I quickly phased out, thankfully. So I reacted a bit slowly when I realised that someone was calling my name.

Recto, you hear me? Please tell me you didn't just go brain-dead on me.
"Uh, what?" I weakly croaked, my voice not even loud enough for miss Twilight to notice it.
Let me on the front, please. Something is not right.

I happily did so and he levitated a random book in the library and one of the several magic books miss Twilight tried earlier, without her noticing. He then opened them randomly and ended up with one book with an organized page and defined, if unknown, letters, while the other was covered in strange pictures and funny-looking inscriptions. He cursed in frustration, apprehension taking a hold on his mind, closed both books, put them back into place and cleared our throat several times, getting miss Twilight's attention.

"Do you have a question?"
"Not exactly," he answered, smiling. "I must say, you are a great teacher, Twilight. You know a lot about magic, and I can feel it from the way you talk about it."
She blushed and looked away, smiling sheepishly. "I... Thank you, I guess?"
"I'm just saying that so that I don't utterly crush your hopes of ever having another student one day," Verso quickly explained. She stopped blushing and stared at us, confused "I'm sorry, Twilight, but neither of us understood a thing about your explanations."

Miss Twilight stayed silent for a solid five seconds, just looking at us, probably wondering whether or not Verso was joking. When she came to the realisation that he was dead-serious, she blinked.

"Nothing?"
"From the moment you opened your mouth to read that book of yours until I stopped you, it just sounded like gibberish to us."
Really? I thought she was just using a lot of complex words...
"But... How? This is perfectly understandable for ponies!" she said. "I haven't even started about the spells themselves!"
"I completely believe you," Verso calmly said. "It isn't the first time something like that happened to m... to us."
"But..."
It isn't?
We had a... similar problem a long time ago. You probably don't remember.
Oh.
"I don't think anyone could teach me anything about magic by explaining it or writing it down."
"Are you saying that you have a condition preventing you from understanding a subject?" miss Twilight asked, confused once again. "How does that even work?"
"It's a... A human thing. We didn't find a cure for it."
Are you saying that we're sick? Are we going to sneeze a lot? It gets annoying...
No, we won't sneeze because of it. Just let me do my work.
"But..." miss Twilight started running around in complete disarray, a few strings of her mane getting loose. "I told Princess Celestia that I would teach you magic, and I can't teach you magic because you can't be taught about magic because you can't understand anything about magic because..."
"Hey, purple horse, calm down, I have a solution." Miss Twilight stopped dead in her tracks and looked at us. "You just have to show me. My... Our condition does not affect examples, and I have already copied several spells just by inspecting them once."
"But... But magic isn't only spells!" miss Twilight retorted. "You have to understand how it works and I can't just 'show' it!"
"Well I'll just have to be as awesome as always and get a feeling for it myself. Either way, it's not like we have many choices."
Miss Twilight sighed, her head low. She levitated a notepad to her and sluggishly wrote something. "I'm going to include that problem in my preliminary report to the Princess..." she weakly said.
"Oh? Are you spying on us?" Verso asked, grinning even though he felt a bit angry.
"Princess Celestia asked me to tell her about my first experience as a serious magic teacher..." she said. "It isn't going overly well for the moment..."
"I authorize you to blame me."

Miss Twilight sighed again and put her note pad away.

"We'll just have to practice spells then. We'll start by..."
"Actually, could you start by showing us protective magic?" Verso rudely interrupted her.
"I... We could, but why do you want to?"
"I thought I had made it pretty clear that my first concern was our protection. Funny or even useful spells are less important to me than the capacity to protect us under any circumstance."
"You do know you're in no danger whatsoever, don't you?"
"Let me be the judge of that," he harshly replied. "For now, I'll just stick to the good old idea that I'm never too cautious."

For the next few hours, miss Twilight showed Verso different spells she knew and helped us practice them to get the hang of it. It was so much funnier than the normal, boring lessons we had on Earth! Sadly, it was also rather taxing, especially for Verso who just couldn't withstand the headaches he get inside the Palace for prolonged period of time and had to frequently give me back the reins while he recuperated.

When it was finally time for dinner, we were famished. Apparently, using magic as much as we did makes people really hungry, even though we don't move much. Spike went to the kitchen to cook something while I helped miss Twilight dress the table. Pretty soon, we were enjoying veggie sandwiches and soup, after Verso discretely checked them for possible poisonous plants.

"So, miss Twilight," I said between two sandwich bites. "You asked us a bunch of questions while you were showing us around, but we don't know much about you."
"Is that so? Well then, what do you want to know?"
"I don't really know... How did you and Spike got to know each other?"
"Oh, that's simple: I hatched him."
She giggled at my confused expression. "Does that mean that baby unicorns are baby dragons?" I asked.
"What? No!" she replied, laughing at the idea. "When I joined Princess Celestia's School for gifted Unicorns, the final test was hatching a dragon egg. Needless to say, I passed," she added, rubbing affectionately Spike's head with a hoof.
"Does that make his mother?"
They blinked and miss Twilight blushed. "N... No! Spike is simply my number one assistant!"
"Ye... Yeah!" Spike vigorously confirmed. "That would be... ugh..."
"If you say so," I said with a shrug. "But how did the unicorns get a dragon egg anyway? Did your parents just give you up like that?" I asked Spike.
"I... I don't know..." Spike answered, looking down sadly.
Miss Twilight bit her lip, looking at the baby dragon with eyes full of compassion. "I don't know where the egg came from either," she said. "I learned from Princess Celestia that I wasn't supposed to actually hatch it. It was just a test to see how I would react in front of an impossible task. They had this egg stored for decades, if not longer!"
"You think miss Princess Celestia would know?"
They both looked up at us, shared a glance and hesitantly returned their attention to me. "I... I've never asked..." miss Twilight admitted. "But even then, I'm not sure we should search for Spike's heritage. It didn't go too well last time..."
"Are you denying his right to know his parents, Twilight?" Verso intervened, infuriated.
"No, of course not!" Twilight replied. "It's just... Well, Spike has been raised by ponies. And Ponies and Dragons are really different. I wouldn't want him to be shunned by his own parents if we ever found them in the first place."

Spike looked pretty depressed, to say the least. The conversation was taking its toll on his mood. At least, until he looked at us with a question in mind.

"Hey, how were your parents, you two?" he simply asked.

Verso froze, his sight focused in space as his half of our mind stopped 'breathing' for an instant. It was just like he had been frozen in time, his consciousness away from our body.

"I dunno," I answered, taking the reins from an inactive Verso. "We don't remember them. We were really young when we were taken to the Institute."
"Really?" miss Twilight asked, sounding a bit sad.
I was about to confirm when Verso beat me to the punch: "They were kind people," he weakly said. "Tried to protect us as they could."
You remember them? I asked, astonished. How come you never said that?!
"So you have still some memories left of them, but not Recto?" Twilight asked, shocked. "How is that possible?"
Verso ignored us both and continued with his whispers, looking at the table. "They didn't have much back there, but they always made sure we both had what we needed. They... They sacrificed their own health for us to be healthy." Our sight was blurring, oddly. "They tried to... to keep us safe..." His voice was breaking, even though he was barely whispering anymore. "They failed, and payed the price for it," he ended, barely loud enough for even us to hear ourselves.

We couldn't see much, with how much our sighted was blurred. It fact, it took me a moment to realize that Verso was nearly crying. He sniffed and wiped our eyes clear, before he stared back at an embarrassed miss Twilight and downright ashamed Spike.

"That's how our parents were, dragon," he said with a harsh tone.
"I... I'm sorry..." he whispered back.

We arrived in an awkward lull in the conversation. I would have asked Verso why he never told me anything about our parents, but looking at how he wouldn't be really happy about it, I decided to just keep that for later. Anyway, I didn't like having three depressed people just moping around me, So I got back to the front and changed the subject.

"How did you meet your friends, miss Twilight?"

They got a bit smily-er at that at least, and she told us all about the way she found a book warning ponies about the return of Nightmare Moon, the magical meanie thing that possessed miss Luna a thousand years ago and made her all clingy about Verso and stuff, and how that led her to Ponyville and to meeting her friends. Verso seemed quite interested when she described the Elements of Harmony, magical jewelry that gave them the power to free miss Luna from Nightmare Meanie.

When he asked her about the Elements, miss Twilight said they didn't have them anymore, as they returned them to their original owner, some kind of crystal tree that lives in the Everfree Forest. We then derived on how she and her friends used the power of Harmony to fight that Tirek guy she mentioned some time ago, and how the magical tree of friendship gave her the awesome castle we were currently in.

From there, she told us about several of their adventures: how they fought mister Discord a few years ago, turned him back into stone for a few months before miss Princess Celestia asked them to try to befriend him, with apparent success so far, how her brother's wedding with her princess foal-sitter was nearly ruined by the meanie changelings Verso got scared about earlier.

For some reason, he snorted several times when she told that one.

Where it gets interesting is when miss Twilight started to talk about the Crystal Empire and its old tyrant ruler, King Sombra. Verso got really, really interested when she started talking about how he used dark magic to get immensely powerful, if a bit crazy, and forced miss Princess Celestia and miss Luna to come and stop him from abusing his people. He lost and, being a sore loser, he teleported his entire kingdom a thousand years into the future. When it reappeared, miss Princess Celestia sent miss Twilight save the Empire with her friends, brother and sister-in-law. In the end, the evil King Sombra was defeated by the Crystal Heart and disappeared. Well, he exploded, but you never know. He could into a smoke monster after all, and that's not normal.

"And you said he fought on par with either princess?"
"Yes!" miss Twilight happily confirmed. "His magic was awful, but powerful. If it wasn't for the Crystal Heart, I don't know if we could have defeated him at all, let alone saving the Empire in the process."
Interesting...
What are you thinking about?
Nothing. Yet. For the moment, we must concentrate on handling our own power. Then, we'll get to innovate.
You're strange sometimes.
Yeeees... Sometimes...
I giggled at his silly mental voice and concentrated back on reality. "You really had an awful lot of adventures, miss Twilight! You're like a superhero or something!"
Miss Twilight actually blushed. "Well thank you, Recto. But my friends and I just did what we had to."
"That doesn't make you any less of a hero, does it? It was still you and your friends who did everything!"
She blushed again and looked away, her gaze falling on an old great-grandpa clock. "Oh, my, look at the time! It's nearly eleven! You should go rest, you've had a long day."
"That's not -yawn- true!" I said. "I'm not tired at all!" I said in a sleepy voice, realizing I had trouble keeping our eyes open.
Yes, we are, Verso said. We should go to bed. We rarely used as much magic as we did in the last two days, it's taxing.
"If you say so..." I muttered. I looked at the table that Spike was finally clearing. "Maybe I should -epic yawn- help?"
"Nah, I'll handle it," he answered. "You go to sleep."

I shrugged and wished them a good night before heading to our new bedroom. Of course, I didn't got lost at all in the crystaly castle and Verso didn't have to indicate me the way. And after that, brushing our teeth wasn't a challenge at all either. I absolutely did not put the brush on the toothpaste tube and trirushing with it while Verso was crying out of shame in a corner of our mind. That would have been silly.

When we were finally ready for bed -Verso took over on the last part because I was pretty pathetic- we first gaze at the stars for a moment, in complete silence. Well, in relative silent, since an owl was hooting somewhere, but still. I don't think I'll ever get over how magnificent the night sky is. Luna sure does an incredible job. No wonder she got angry when nobody appreciated it a thousand years ago.

I finally headed to the bed that was comfy beyond my wildest dreams, wished goodnight to Verso quickly drifted to sleep. It didn't take us five minutes to enter the sweet realm of dreams, and therefore ending our first day in Ponyville.

As soon as our body and Recto fell asleep, I found myself back to that horrid places I sadly have to call my true home, as I always do when we sleep. Thankfully, the renewed seal was still holding pretty nicely, so the horrible thunder that made this place even worse wasn't there yet. It would probably return within a day or two, but that wasn't my problem yet. After I waited a solid two hours reviewing and organizing the new magical knowledge we had acquired that day, I carefully woke our body up, taking full control of it.

Not a sound was to be heard in the castle, but I knew better than just assuming that everyone was asleep just based on that, especially with that annoying buzzing sensation I could feel inside my skull when inside this horrid place. I carefully tiptoed out of our bedroom, heading toward what the magical purple horse had described as her room in case we needed her and silently opened the door, to find her lightly snoring in her bed. I also noticed the small dragon sleeping in a basket next to her, a gleeful expression on his face as he repeatedly whispered the unicorn tailor's name in his sleep. I was kinda surprised to find him sleeping like some sort of pet, but it wasn't time to ask those kind of questions.

I silently closed the door and made my way back to the library, when some movement at the corner of my eyes made me spin around, ready to fire magic beams of pain toward anything, barely holding a scream of surprise. Only to find out I had been scared shitless by a fucking owl.

"How the fuck did you get in here?" I quietly growled at it.
"Who?"
"Nevermind..."

I quickly found the library's doors and let myself in, gazing with awe at the sheer number of books it contained. I then shook my head and concentrated back on the task at hand. I wouldn't be able to stay out to long all by myself.

"First, let's take a look at the changeling situation," I whispered, sitting cross-legged.

It took me a few seconds to focus correctly on my city-scan spell and another handful to cast it. I immediately began to sort through the massive amount of information assailing my brain, searching for the prison-pods they had placed all around the town. I could see that there was nearly none of them left, and most changelings were nowhere to be seen anymore. Chrysalis was still around, though, surrounded by other changelings. They all turned roughly in my direction when my spell reached them, confirming that they could indeed see it. They started buzzing around a bit faster. Heh, buzzing around.

"Oh skies, I hate myself for even thinking that one up..." I muttered, silently blaming Lyr... Thingy the changeling for imposing her terrible sense of humor on my mind.

I stopped my search, satisfied. At this rate, the changelings would be long gone by the deadline I had given them. I quickly looked around as I got back to my feet. The library was a bit big for me to just look around aimlessly and hoping to find a text that would fit my current objective. I looked for a desk of some sort and quickly found an index. Written with that awful scribbling they called an alphabet.

I cursed and finally resolved myself to look around like an idiot, pulling out books randomly and replacing them as soon as I found out they were any help. When I crossed a bookcase, I found something that made me smile: lots and lots of illustrated books, clearly designed to be read by kids.

"Bingo..."

I picked one with the picture of a sun with a creepy pony face, rabbits and an earth pony in farmer clothings drawn on it. By opening it on a random page, I found out that I had hit the jackpot: the right page depicted sheep, while the left one was a drawing of the pony farmer pointing at it and saying one word in their gibberish alphabet, probably its name. Not the alphabet book I was hoping for, but clearly a pony version of a Rosetta Stone.

I quickly began to understand their second alphabet, just replacing mouth-written symbols by the Latin ones. Quite frankly, you didn't have to be a genius to get the catch once you had such a tool in you hands. But I must admit that having manual control over your own subconscious helps a lot catching it quickly, especially when you start heading for more complicated tomes. I quickly found the History section, between the Baking and the Alchemy sections, oddly.

"Well, time to practice being a genius, I guess," I whispered, cracking my joints.

Of course, I cheated and didn't even really read the books at all. Just quickly looked at each page and stored the memory for me to review later. That was a bit more straining for my mind, but I could start understanding them later. Mainly, while our body was sleeping and without taking the risk to awaken the other bastard earlier than he would on his own.

When I had finished on the History section, I quickly got over to the Magic department and picked up a few random books, further confirming my intuition that they didn't let me read any of them. I hissed in frustration and began searching for other books that might indirectly talk about that subject, only to find some of their paragraphs blurred. Oddly enough, I could still read the parts that described some unicorns or Celestia using some spell to do something ranging from making flowers bloom to rising the motherfucking sun, but no theoretical knowledge about magic stuff.

That was slightly infuriating, but there was nothing I could do about it. Last time, I had to deduce what they weren't letting me know after it was no use to try and prevent me form learning it anymore. I had no idea how to learn any of the magical theory except by experiencing it. It worried me that they could prevent Recto from doing something when he wasn't directly linked to them, but I suppose I should have seen that coming.

Not wanting to find out just how long I could stay awake alone before the other one started to make my skull a living hell again, I quickly went back to my room and back to sleep. When I was back into our soul place, I willed the access to our memory to open, and the familiar wooden door appeared on a wall. I quickly walked up to it, the chains rattling behind me, and entered.

The form our memory bank took beyond that point usually changed quite a lot, based on my mood or needs. As of then, it was a big dual screen computer with a comfy chair and a huge database. As soon as I sit down, the screens lit up and displayed a similar content: the titles of the books I had just skim through in Equestrian Alphabet on the left screen and in Latin Alphabet on the right one, quickly translating between from the newer one.

I leaned back on the chair and started making the most out of one of the few calm nights I was going to have.

Author's Note

I'm back already, with a new chapter for your eyes! Ain't I just awesome?
I'd sure love to be able to retain info like Verso does... I must admit that I got a little inspired by Sherlock's "mental palace" from the eponymous series.
Pretty good show, I'd recommend it.
Anyway, thank you a lot for reading this. Don't hesitate to point out errors or weirdly said stuff. I'm still learning english after all.
Next Chapter : Training montage, Clothing gifts and Excuses.
See you soon!

Chapter 17: Falling in order

I woke up to the still new and amazing, if somewhat painful feeling of having the sun shine directly in our face. It was nice. And what was even nicer was that this time, our room was still in the pristine condition we left her last night. I stretched a bit and scratched some annoyingly itchy spot in our back.

"Good morning, Verso," I said between two yawns.
Hi. You slept well?
"Yep." I nodded with a goofy grin. "And you didn't destroy the room this time. Definitely an improvement."
No nightmares to be had, I guess.

I would have continued to talk, but a loud growl coming from our stomach interrupted me. We wisely decided to go get breakfast, dropping the topic. I quickly went downstairs, finding miss Twilight looking absolutely terrible, a steaming cup of something in front of her. I was about to ask her if she felt alright before Spike jumped in front of me, carrying a plate with several pancakes.

"You don't want to talk to her before coffee," he ominously said. "You really, really don't."
I shrugged and sat down, levitating delicious pancakes to our plate. "Thank you so much for making these, Spike. And what's coffee?" It sure smells pretty good.
"Some sort of miracle drink," Spike answered as he bit a chunk out of some shiny blue rock, making Verso and I both flinch. "I don't like remembering Twilight waking up before she discovered it."

Miss Twilight vaguely grunted something and sipped the mysterious brew in her cup. I giggled when I realized she looked pretty much like what I had imagined of a zombie pony. Only, less dead and without missing parts. And definitely not preying on the living. Yet.

I devoured the pancakes in a matter of minutes, finishing it long before miss Twilight had returned to her senses. She had when we got back down after a quick trip to the bathroom, though, and she was smiling brightly to the world.

"Good morning, you two!" she happily said when she saw us.
"Uh... Good morning, miss Twilight."
"The weather is just perfect today," she said as she looked through a window. "I think we should continue your lessons outside. Plus, it'll let ponies see you, and Verso won't have a headache!"
Well, talk about mood-swings.
I wonder what's inside this 'coffee' thing...
Miracles, Verso vaguely answered with a chuckle.

I followed miss Twilight through the small town, noticing a lot of ponies staring at us, surprised. Which was strange, since I thought most of them saw us at the party the day before. We finally reached our destination, a small green hill with a tree on top. She sat down and I imitated her, resting our back against the tree. Her horn lit up and a small book with a large picture on its cover popped in front of her, before she caught it in her telekinesis. I gave her a look.

"Verso told you we couldn't understand magic books," I stated.
"I know, that's why this book doesn't have anything to do with magic at all," she said. "That's filly book. I'll teach you how to read!"
Oh, boy, I grunted inwardly.
Don't worry. Just let me outside.

I quickly did so, happy that I didn't have to learn to read again. Personally, that is.

"That won't be necessary, Princess Purple Horse," Verso said.
"Of course it is!" miss Twilight scoffed. "Everypony needs to be able to read, and you're no exception."
"That's not what I meant. I meant to say that you didn't need to teach me how to read. I already know how."
"But, yesterday..."
"Was yesterday. I learned during the night."

While miss Twilight was trying - and hilariously failing - to form a coherent answer, Verso floated the book to us. It still looked like gibberish to me, but I could feel that Verso understood perfectly what it meant. Still, it was annoying that I still couldn't read it myself. Thankfully, he quickly realized that he forgot me, and I found myself with his understanding of the two alphabets imprinted in my mind. And that's when I realized that miss Twilight intended to teach us how to read with a pony equivalent of the three little pigs.

"How..?" she asked when she finally succeeded at talking. I'm proud of her. "You don't simply learn how to read in a single night!"
"I didn't have to. Just had to recognize the corresponding symbols, since it's the same language. It's more of a matter of decoding than learning, really."

Miss Twilight sighed and teleported the book away, muttering something about annoying humans forcing her to go over the checklist she had prepared. She floated a notepad from somewhere and checked something with a marker.

"Well, since you already know how to read, we'll just move on."
"More magic?"
"Not this morning. Right now, I want to do some sort of cultural exchange," she answered, making a few scrolls appear out of nowhere, alongside with a bottle of ink and a few feathers.
Verso sighed. I could feel he would have enjoyed the magic courses a lot more. "How's this going to work?"
"Simple: I ask one question, you answer it and you get to ask one. Equivalent exchange works rather well, I think."
Verso leaned back against the tree. "That's okay with me. We'll answer the best can," he said as he slipped to the back of our mind, leaving me on the front.
"I'll start then," miss Twilight said. "Are there female humans?"
I looked at her as if she were stupid. "Well, yeah. Of course."

She silently nodded and wrote something. I glanced inwardly at Verso.

You want to ask something?
Not for the moment. Have your fun.
Yay! I grinned, as my mind immediately found the most important question I had asked in quite some time. "How do you make chocolate milk?"
Miss Twilight looked rather dumbly at us. "I... I think you put some chocolate powder in some milk?" As I was nodding in satisfaction, she shook her head, wrote something else and asked: "How do Humans reproduce?"
I blushed, something fierce. Who asks this kind of questions?! I was trying to get coherent when Verso took over, chuckling. "Pretty much the same way horse do. Our gestation period lasts around nine months. And before you ask, yes, the females carry the baby."
She nodded again and Verso got back to watching things from behind our eyes. I got ahold on myself and asked: "Where can I find chocolate powder and milk?"
"In a general store, or you could ask Pinkie Pie to get you some, I guess. Now, what other species are humans genetically compatible with?"

WHO ASKS THESE SORT OF THINGS?! Seriously? I was halfway between turning into a tomato and calling miss Twilight weird when Verso took over, and answered.

"Are you coming onto me, miss Twilight?" he said with a sly grin.
Miss Twilight blinked before she blushed at least as much as I was before Verso took over. "N... No! I..."
"Then, I'll answer a more important question: are humans open to talk about sexuality? Answer: no. Not at all. You're making Recto uncomfortable."
She gulped and adverted her gaze. "I'm sorry..."
"Oh, and for your question: no, humans were not compatible with any other species on Earth. Besides, just the thought of it is pretty disgusting. No other species was intelligent. It was a crime in several countries to just think about having sexual intercourse with animals. Does this answer satisfy you?" Miss Twilight nodded, still blushing. "Then I'll leave my place to Recto. If you want to talk about sexuality and Humans, ask when I'm in command and Recto is sleeping."

And he left, putting me back to the front. Miss Twilight and I stayed silent for some time, not even daring to look in each other direction. I must say, the ground look pretty fascinating, so I wasn't that bored. Thankfully, she broke the awkward silent.

"It's... It's your turn..."
I blinked a few times before I remembered what my question was. "Where is Spike?"
"He is helping Rarity with an order. Why did you come to Equestria?"
"Mister Discord brought us. He said we would be pretty free and out of danger. And he offered chocolate milk."
"I'm guessing the chocolate milk part is what convinced you?" she asked with a grin.
"Of course," I answered with a nod, putting on my serious face -which always makes Verso giggle like a fool. "Now, you're an alicorn, right? So why isn't you mane ultra-pretty like miss Princess Celestia's or Luna's?"
"I... Don't know, actually. I'll have to ask Princess Celestia! Maybe Cadance knows too..."
I have a question next.
Okay!
"So, you said you lived in an underground facility. Why?"
"Because our species destroyed the surface," Verso answered. "We used powerful weapons to fight each other, and we went too far. The aftermath made the surface impossible to live on."
"Uh..."
"My turn. Why isn't there much documented History dating further back than a thousand or so years ago?"
She blinked. "How do you know that?"
"It's your turn to answer, not to ask."
Miss Twilight growled. "When Discord reigned, it is recorded that he made most books come to life and leave the libraries. Also, some ancient books are still stored in Equestria's old capital."
"Where?" Verso greedily.
"Your turn to answer, not to ask," miss Twilight said with a grin. "Now, as much as I'd like to know just how exactly you know anything about our History records, I'm more interested in your History. Why did humans fight each other with such weapons?"
"Because they were efficient in killing people, of course," Verso answered, smiling widely at miss Twilight angry reaction. "So. Where is the ancient capital?"
"That's not what I meant!"
"That's what you asked. Now, where's the ancient capital exactly?"
Miss Twilight gritted her teeth. "Deep within the Everfree forest," she reluctantly answered. "Why did your people even fight with each other?"
"For dominance, and out of fear. And before you ask," he quickly added while miss Twilight's face was turning red with frustration, "I'm not going to answer anymore question concerning the Swan Song, and Recto didn't listen at any of our lessons, so he doesn't know a thing. That's not a pleasant topic."

Miss Twilight gritted her teeth again -she does that a lot, I found- and asked a lot of question about our living conditions back on Earth, we answered them, and I asked her about food, flowers and whatnot. It was mostly boring, honestly. Thankfully, she stopped soon enough and she resumed her magical training until lunch, and then some.

We had to stop when Spike came to ask us to go meet miss Rarity at her shop. We followed him and met the white unicorn, who had an excited smile on her face. She also looked pretty happy about herself. Oddly enough, she had dressed up and was wearing a dress of her own.

"Ah, Recto! Just the human I wanted to see."
I guess I can just go fuck myself, then.
"Come in, I have most of your order taken care of."
"Already? Thanks! Can we see them?"
"Of course. Come this way, dear."

She lead us to a pile of neatly folded clothes further inside the shop. When I took the first one in our hands to get a better look at it, I can honestly said I squeed like a girl in some kind of cartoon. They just looked perfect! And they were gifts! I love gifts! Verso rolled his figurative eyes, though.

Come on, they're just clothes. No reason to be that excited about it.
"But they look so great!" I replied aloud. I turned to look at miss Rarity. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"That's nothing, dear," she kindly replied.
"Can we try them on?"
"Of course."

She pointed at a random screen and I ran behind it, grabbing the rest of our new clothes with telekinesis and taking them with us. I quickly changed from our Earth-looking shirt and pants to those miss Rarity made us and looked around for the closest mirror. There was thankfully one nearby and I gazed happily at our new set, a green and beige shirt and matching pants. And Sky, were they comfy too! I giggled happily and walked back to the main room. Miss Rarity nodded in approbation.

I was about to thank her again when a trio of high pitched screeches interrupted me. And then, we were unexpectedly surrounded by three dwarves ponies, one of each race. Two of them were watching us with curiosity while the third one, a little white unicorn, seemed angry about something.

"Rarity! Are you going to let a giant ape-monster ruin the weird clothing you were making all day?" she adorably squeaked in disbelief.
Well, fuck you too.
"Sweetie Belle!" miss Rarity huffed. "Don't be rude!"
"That's not a problem," I told her, startling the three little ponies. "She's too adorable for us to be offended."
I am, and not amount of cuteness will change that.
Yeah, but you're grumpy. Like, always. So it doesn't count.
"Gah! It talks!" another one of them, an orange pegasus, cleverly reminded us.
"Scootaloo!" miss Rarity yelled.
"First, we're a 'he'," I told the small ponies, kneeling to their level. "And second, my name is Recto. Nice to meet you."
If they continue being this rude, it will be nice to 'meat' them. Hehe... Oh, Skies, that was awful...
And frankly scary.

The last small pony, a yellow earth pony with a giant pink ribbon somehow attached to her red mane stepped forward and raised a hoof in our direction for us to shake.

"Ah'm Applebloom," she said. "This here is Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo," she told us, pointing at the unicorn and pegasus respectively. "You were the one Pinkie Pie made a party for yesterday, right?"
"Yep. Well, Verso and I."
"Verso?" Scootaloo asked, confused.
Hey, come out and say hello.
Fuck no. I hate children.
I blinked. They're children?
Wha... Of course they are! They're smaller and they don't have their Sky damn butt-tattoo!
I thought they were just, like, really small!

While Verso was repeatedly bashing his head against something hard in our mind, I gave a closer at the three ponies. And indeed, I realized that they looked a lot like how I imagined ponies children would look like. Basically, smaller and cuter. I beamed. I like children! The few times we were allowed to get near some of them in the Institute, mainly while we were a child ourselves, they were a lot more fun than the adults! Then, something happened and Verso told us we weren't allowed to get near anyone anymore. Bummer.

"Who's that 'Verso you're talking about?" Scootaloo repeated.
I blinked a few times, refocusing on reality. "Well, kinda like another me, but different. He's being grumpy right now and doesn't want to come out."
"Ah don't think I understand," Applebloom said. "There's another ape-thing like you around?"
"We're not an ape. We're human. And as far as we know, we're the only human around."
"I'm confused..." Scootaloo commented.
Miss Rarity sighed and shooed them away. "Will you girls stop harassing poor Recto? Give him space to breath!"
"Thank you really really much for the clothes, miss Rarity!" I said, surprise-hugging her, carefully not messing her dress and mane. "I don't know how we could ever repay you," I continued releasing her.
"Don't be silly, you don't have to."
"But..."
"No but. I wouldn't accept payment for giving somepony what they need."
"That's really generous of you."
And a fucking bad business plan.
She giggled. "Well, that is to be expected," she mysteriously declared. "Now, I don't want to rush you out, but I have to clean this awful mess."
I looked around. It was probably cleaner than miss Twilight's library. "Can I... help you?"
"Oh, that wouldn't be proper. Plus, Spikey-wikey has already volunteered to help me! Didn't you?" she asked, turning to face Spike with half-lidded eyes.
"Of course. Anything you desire, Rarity," he said while Verso snickered at his nickname, a goofy smile on his face, little pink hearts replacing his eye balls.

The girls and us were quickly thrown out of the shop, myself carrying the clothes we weren't currently wearing. I decided to drop them in our room at the palace and started to walk that way. The three little ponies quickly decided to followed us.

"So, what was that about that other hoo-man?" Scootaloo asked.
"'Human'," I corrected. "And it's a bit complicated. Especially if he's being a meanie head by not showing up to prove my point."
I'm not hearing anything.
"Let's just say that I am not alone in here," I concluded, tapping our head to accentuate my words.
"That sounds like something somepony crazy would say," Applebloom noted.
"Yes it does," I nodded, happy they understood.
They blinked a few time and shook their head. "Anyway, what are you doing in Ponyville, mister Recto?"
"Verso and I are studying magic with Princess Twilight. And please don't call me 'mister'. We're way too young for that."
"You can do magic?" Sweetie Belle adorably squeaked.
"Yep," I confirmed, levitating our new clothes to demonstrate. "Verso's way better at it, though."
"That's awesome!" Scootaloo said. "Can you do anything else?"

I did my best to put on a little show while we walked, and it sadly ended when we reached the palace. They still followed us inside, though. I quickly reached our room and carefully set our clothes on our bed. I turned around and faced the girls.

"What do you ponies do for fun?" I asked. "I don't think we have more magic lessons with miss Twilight today."
We could probably ask her to keep going, you know?
Yep, but all work and no play makes me a dull boy.
Verso mentally shrugged. Do as you want. I'll just organize our new spells in our memory. I'll still be around, but I won't watch actively. Be careful. I felt his presence nearly fade away as he started to do his thing.
"Your eye changed color," Sweetie Belle pointed out.
"It happens," I told her, not in the mood to explain our body functions anymore. "So? What do you do for fun?"
"Well, we mostly try to find a way to get our cutiemarks. That usually doesn't work, but it's always good fun."
"Cutiema... Oh, the butt-pictures." Heh, don't even need Verso to remind me that one. "Why do you mean, find a way to get your marks? I thought they kinda appeared on you when you get old enough or something."
"If only..." Applebloom muttered.
"Of course not! Why, did yours appear overnight?" Scootaloo asked.
"I don't have one."

You know these moments in movies when one character says something and the music and background noises suddenly stop? Well, there weren't any music playing when I said that, but I still felt it stopping. I actually walked a few meters before I realized they weren't following me anymore. And when I finally turned around to see what they were doing, I found them staring into the space between spaces, jaw dropped.

"Huh..."
"He... doesn't... have a mark?" Sweetie Belle whispered.
"Girls, are you okay?"
"Does that mean we could get as old as he is without finding our cutiemarks?" Scootaloo said barely loud enough for me to hear.
"We're not old!" I said. "We're eighteen!"
"That would be horrible..." Applebloom continued.
"Besides, I'm pretty sure humans don't get cutiemarks at all!"

That made them react. Mainly, that they all looked at us as if I had just insulted their grandmothers.

"You don't get cutiemarks?" Sweetie Belle shrieked in horror.
"But how do you know what you're best at?" Scootaloo asked.
"That's simple: I don't." When they had finished gasping in horror, I continued. "I simply do stuff I like doing. I don't really care whether or not I'm the best at it: if I like it, that's good enough for me."

They blinked a few time, apparently trying to answer something. They suddenly turned to face each other and discussed something, making sure I couldn't hear a word. When they finally finished, they turned toward us.

"Ah'm mighty sorry, Recto, but we have tah go. We have something tah do right now."

And just like that, they sprinted away before I could even as what they were going to do, leaving us alone. I decided that since Verso was busy, I'd let him work and I just went to the park to find a tree to sit under. That way, I'd have been able to just watch all these new things that happens on the surface. I quickly found a place and let the sun's rays do their work.

Around half an hour after I sat down, a strange unicorn with a dark coat and seaweed green mane came by. I say she was strange because of her way she was looking at us: she seemed almighty angry and didn't look all that friendly, while other ponies were definitely either curious or scared when they looked at us. Maybe I had taken her usual spot to sit?

"It is done, human," she spat. "All the others are going away, and I'm staying because of you."
I blinked. "I'm sorry, but do I know you? And what are you talking about?"
She narrowed her eyes even more, somehow. "If you think I wouldn't attack you if you keep making fun of me, you're wrong."
Huh, Verso? Are you here?
I felt his consciousness awaken quickly. What is it?
There's a strange unicorn talking nonsense saying you know her.
Huh. Well I don't... Wait a sec... He spent a second searching through my memory. Okay, I'm going to need you to give me the reins and to go to sleep. You're sleepy anyway. I'll handle it.
So you do know her! Who's she?
Someone I may have angered a bit yesterday. I'll handle it, go to sleep.
Okay. Try not to get things worse!

As soon as I took the commands, I casted my sense field, confirming what I thought: the unicorn was a changeling. The Princess Nymph to be precise. I grinned at her.

"So you're the one the petty Queen decided to leave behind, Princess?" I smugly said, her anger visibly increasing. "I guess your mother really wants me to blow our contract up."
"Don't you dare insult the Queen, you filthy ape!" she growled. "I volunteered to stay behind. I don't trust you, and contrarily to the other changelings, I don't fear you. I'll keep both my eyes on you."
"Oh, I'm so scared," I said. "Now, it's not that I don't trust you or anything, but I'm going to check if what you're saying is true. So, just go a few steps farther away from me, thank you very much."

When she was far enough for me to react in time if the cockroach tried to do anything funny, I closed my eyes and casted my city-scan spell, grunting as it tried to fry my brain. I quickly searched for the other changelings and pleasantly found out that there wasn't any left in Ponyville, except for Nymph and Ly... Thingy. I like this name.

I interrupted my scan and opened my eyes to see the changeling snarling at me, still in disguise. I just knew that she was just waiting for any excuse to jump at my throat and try to rip it open, but with my new spells, I knew she definitely didn't have a chance. I got up and stretched my back. I let my eyes fix the sky a second -it's hard to get used to seeing it for real in only two days- before I watched the little changeling in front of me.

"Now, you're all alone in hostile territory. Explain me how you're going to feed yourself?"
"Same way independent changelings do. I'll just find a lonely pony to comfort."
"Suit yourself. Try not making too much trouble. I'd hate to have to kill you when we obviously get along so well."

She hissed but didn't reply as she turned around and walked back into town. I looking at the sky, I knew the sun was about to set. I glanced at the nearby tree and decided that it would probably look rather nice from there. Using a bit of magic, I climbed the tree with difficulty -living twelve years in the same room not doing much sport does that- and I was officially on my knees when I reached the top of the damn tree. I swear my sight was narrowing and my blood was pumping fast and hard in my ears.

"I... Have... To... Exer... Cise... Oh, Skies..."

Honestly, I was about to throw up from the effort. It was kinda funny too: I was probably able to crush a house with but a thought, and just climbing a small tree had me begging for air. Pathetic.

I waited a bit to catch my breath before I awakened Recto. No reason to force him to be in this state after all. When I didn't feel like emptying my stomach of the fucking vegetarian regime we were forced into, I woke Recto up.

Hey, I'm finished with that unicorn. Wake up!
Five more minutes... I groaned.

It's kinda funny how mind sleeping can be addictive. I bet that's why Verso always spends his time asleep when he can. Either way, he somehow forced me awake and I took a quick glance through our eyes.

Where are we?
In a tree. I thought we would have a better view on the sunset.

It was true. The orange sky looked simply amazing from up there. I took the commands back, careful not to slip from the branch Verso had us perched on, and we watched silently until the sun was finally below the horizon. That's pretty much when I realized that I had absolutely no idea how to climb down a tree.

"Maybe I could just jump. We're not that high, are we?"
About six or seven meters above the ground, actually. Even if you manage to fall on our legs, they'd likely break.
"Oh. Forget about that one." I glanced at the branches below. "It mustn't be that hard to go back the way you got here."
Yeah, about that... We really need to get in shape. I don't think doing any kind of intense physical effort is a good idea right now.
"Are you saying that you got us stuck here?"
If we were a normal human, yes. But we do have magic. Maybe we can shape a force field to make a slide?
"You mean you don't know?"
Hey, I've never done it before! Of course I don't know!
"You look hilarious stuck there, you know that?" Rainbow Dash's voice said, cracking up.

I quickly found her flying a few meters above us, giggling at our misery.

"Could you help us, please? Verso got us stuck up here!"
Hey!
"Yeah, I could. And I probably should, giving that Twilight is searching for you. But first, I'll have to go borrow Pinkie's camera. That's just priceless!" she said, flying away in a rainbow-colored blur.
Oh, fuck no! There's no way I'll let her do that. Give me the reins, I'll get us down.

I gave him the commands and retreated behind our eyeballs. He popped our hand joints, casted his sense field and muttered something I should not repeat. Our hands lit with his yellow magic and a magical wall of solid yellowness appeared out of thin air. Verso forced the wall to incline itself, turning it into a gentle slope. He touched the magical force field to feel its texture -it was perfectly smooth.

"Well, here goes nothing," he said as he jumped on his creation.

Thankfully, not only did it hold on as we slided to the ground, but it was extremely fun too! I was giggling in excitement in our head the entire way and begging for more when it stopped. But Verso reminded me that it would mean that we would have to climb the tree again, and that just wasn't a good idea. He also made us wait for Rainbow Dash to return so that he could laugh at her face, though. We heard her flying above us soon after we got down.

"...You wouldn't believe how hard it was to... Where are you?" She flew around the top of the tree for a handful of seconds before she gasped. "Oh my gosh! Maybe he fell!"

She rocketed downward, searching for our unconscious body only to find Verso standing there, our arms crossed and a smug smile on our face. Rainbow Dash somehow slowed down before she hit the ground at breakneck speed, and look relieved to find us safe and sound, if somewhat angry.

"Oh, thank Celestia, you're okay!"
"Not thanks to you, Skittles," Verso said. "I could have very well failed my attempt and hurt myself because you were more eager to get a good laugh than to help us."
Rainbow blushed and adverted her gaze. "... Why are you calling me 'Skittles'?" she asked, changing the topic. "I don't really like that name."
"And you've just earned a silly nickname that I will use until the day I die. Congratulations."
"What?!"
"That'll teach you."

He left the commands and put me on the front, making me deal with the pegasus frustration, who asked me to at least tell her what Verso's nickname meant. Problem was, I don't have the slightest idea why he chose "Skittles". Like, that's not even a word I know. Of course, Rainbow Dash didn't settle for that and just continue to try and force me to reveal the hidden meaning of Verso's punishment for her on our way to miss Twilight's Shiny Treehouse of Awesomeness.

She finally left us alone when we entered the big shiny tree, though it was only to let miss Twilight have her turn at lecturing us about telling her where we go, as she technically was in charge of us. She decided that we had studied enough magic for today and left us alone after her half-an-hour short lecture. We unanimously decided to go for the balcony with a book to read, which apparently lessened Verso's strange headache he continuously has in that place.

So, we started to read under the light of the moon and stars, a magical light coming from inside the palace helping us. It was pretty nice. The air wasn't too cool, the sky was beyond beautiful and we had a nice story book about not-so-nice vampire ponies trying to drink ponies' blood. Verso eventually went to continue to organize our memories about the spells miss Twilight taught us that day.

So I can honestly say I was rather surprised when I heard a pony coughing to get my attention. Of course, when I raised my eyes, it happened to be a night guard that looked positively bored, if a bit tensed. Of course, since he startled me -and was looking a lot like the vampony my book was talking about with his bat wings- I may have screamed a little and hid behind the chair I was sitting on.

"Please don't drink our blood! I'm pretty sure it isn't tasty!"

He blinked a few times, his mouth opened as if ha was about to say something. Verso felt the sudden scare and jolted awake.

What happened? Are you okay?
Vampony!
He blinked too, read up my last memories and mind-palmed. For the love of... Recto, that's one of Luna's guards, not a vampire!
It was my turn to blink. Oh.
Yeah. Now, if you could see what he wants...

I got out of my hiding place to see the guard waiting passively. I levitated my book back to the chair and looked at him, feeling a bit awkward.

"Hum, hello. Sorry about screaming and everything. I was reading a scary book and you startled me." No I wasn't. It was more of a children book.
"Princess Luna wishes to see you," the pony said, not giving one bit of attention to my apology. At least, hearing that Luna wasn't feeling down anymore and wanted to see us was nice. "I am to guide you to her."
"And if we refuse to see her?" Verso aggressively asked, taking control.
Why would we? Luna is nice!
I don't like being forced to do anything.
"Well, I would transmit your refusal to her. The Princess expressively told me that trying to force you to do anything would be a bad idea."
Huh.
I wanna see her! We couldn't say goodbye when we left Canterlot! Verso didn't answer. He just gave me the commands back. "We'll come with you. Is it far away?"
"Just put your hoof on my back, sir."
I looked at him funny until Verso groaned and told me he probably meant our hand. As I did, I couldn't help but saying: "I don't see how that..."

And I was interrupted by the world exploding in light for an instant, before it reformed as the Throne Room in Canterlot, with Luna sitting on the throne. Our stomach and inner ear apparently didn't like that so much, because we immediately felt dizzy and likely to puke our dinner. That wasn't the most enjoyable experience of all time. And that's discounting how confused I was.

"Excuse me for the discomfort, Recto," Luna said, worried, walking in our direction. "I tend to forget how disorienting long-distance teleportation is for those who aren't used to it."
Verso growled internally but kept quiet. "It's... It's alright," I said. "I'll just... sit down until it passes." I carefully sat on the floor while I said that, our head spinning. "What happened? How are we in the Throne Room?"
"I kept a link with Shadow Blitz here," she explained, pointing at the night guard who nodded at the mention. "When you touched him, I teleported you both back to me."
"You can teleport with magic? Cool! We must get Twilight to teach that to us next!"
Sure would have been useful earlier...
"Thank you for your help, Shadow Blitz," Luna said. "You are dismissed." The guard bowed silently and quietly left the room. Luna turned to us, a smiling. "Are you getting used to to Equestria, Recto?"
"It's been wonderful so far!"

I started to tell her about our last two days in Ponyville. Verso tensed up a bit when I mentioned how he scared everyone with his talk about changelings invading the town, probably because he still felt bad about it, but Luna didn't say a thing, instead just listening to me. Then, I asked her about her own day, which looked like it surprised her. I don't see why it would; she was sick when we left after all.

"Is your... friend unwell?" Luna asked at some point. "I would have thought he would have intervened by now."
"Who, Verso? Nah, he is feeling fine." Right? As he didn't answer, I realized he had been awfully silent since Luna and I started to talk. Maybe he was feeling under the weather? Hey, are you alright?
... Yeah, he growled back, surprisingly.
Are you sure? You don't sound too well.
I just don't want to talk to her.
Why not? Luna's nice! And she visibly worries about you too.
Are you serious?! He replied loudly. She... He sounded like he was about to say something, but he kept it for himself, grunting instead.
"He... is fine," I told the blue princess, probably sounding about as puzzled as I felt. "He just doesn't feel like talking for some reason."
Luna bit her lip and adverted her gaze for a second. "He can hear me, right?" I answered with a nod. "Well, I would like to talk to you, Verso." She furtively glanced at me for an instant. "Alone, if that doesn't bother you, Recto."
Verso exploded at that. She has no right to ask you to disconnect at all! he roared. That blue...
"If Verso wants to, I have no problem with it," I said, interrupting his angry rant with a yawn. "I am feeling rather tired after all. I wouldn't mind going to sleep."
You don't have to...
Oh, come on! She wants to have a private talk with you and I'm tired anyway! If you don't want to talk to her at all, just say it and I'll ask her to send us back home.
Verso hesitated for a few seconds before he answered. I'll talk with her. Sleep well.
Okay! Good night!

The very instant I felt Recto falling asleep, I lit my hands with magic and showed that blue bitch just how angry I was with what she had just done. Did she think she could just go and ask him to go unconscious and force me on the front?! She doesn't even know the consequences of me being alone here! When she realized at least a bit of the extent of my anger, she jumped back and lit her own horn.

"You bitch!" I yelled at her. "Don't you ever dare to ask him to do that again!"
"Wha... Why?" she asked, clearly confused. "Recto said that it was fine with him! And I thought you wouldn't want him to know what we would talk about!"
"That isn't for you to decide!" I quite literally roared in her face.

I was breathing loudly, my blood felt like it was boiling in my veins and I honestly don't know why I didn't attack her. I have killed many, many people for a lot less. Maybe I thought that it would be difficult to kill her and get away with it. Maybe I thought that Recto wouldn't like me killing one of the few people he had ever thought of as a friend in our life. Maybe I still have more of a moral than I think I do. I guess I'll never know.

After a few long seconds of silence, during which that lunar princess of my ass visibly looked like she was prepared to defend herself, I closed my eyes, emitted a small but dense sense field around and inside me, and manually slowed my heart rate to a more normal level.

Don't try this at home, kids. I almost fucked up and gave myself a heart attack.

When I opened my eyes again, I was a bit calmer. Still mighty angry, but I wasn't about to go and try to rip her head off anymore. Besides, stopping her heart would be more efficient and a lot less messy. A glance in her direction showed that she was still in combat position, her wings raised to look more imposing. I snickered when I realized that. The big, powerful, scary princess was acting like a common pigeon.

"Calm down, princess. I'm not going to attack you," I forced myself to say calmly, holding my hands up and cancelling my magic.
"You certainly looked like you would have a moment ago," she commented, slowly folding her wings to her sides and turning her horn off.
"You have no idea how offending what you asked of him is. And that's probably why I'm not currently repainting this room with your blood, princess."
"Duly noted," she said dryly.
"I'm sure you would understand. What you just did was basically like I asked you to leave total control to Nightmare Moon so that I could have a chat with her."
She narrowed her eyes, getting angry too. "I didn't know you knew of her. I trust that Twilight Sparkle told you of this story."
I nodded. "She did. But enough of that," I said, walking to look at one of the scenes depicted in the stained glasses. "You wanted to talk to me about something. Alone. Without any guard that might overhear. And since none of them tried to prevent me from attacking you earlier, I'm willing to bet that you soundproofed this room, hinting that you really don't want anyone else to know of it. Which means that it is either shameful for you or that it would change how your own guards would see you." I turned back to look at her, smiling darkly. "What did you want to talk about, Princess Luna?"
She adverted her eyes. Funny how ponies tend to do that when they're flustered. "I wanted to apologize to you," she finally said after a couple of seconds. "For invading your dream and jumping to conclusion two nights ago."
"And?"
"... And for fighting you inside and outside of your dream just after that."
"And?"
She blinked, visibly concentrating, searching what more she could be guilty for. "I believe that is all. Did I forget something?"
I gave her a plain look. "Wow, you have such a terrible attention span. I was about to kill you because of it seconds ago and you already forgot."
She blushed intensely. "And for asking Recto to give up his control so that I could talk with you," she quickly added. "It was so much in front of my muzzle that I didn't even think about it. I am truly sorry for everything, Verso. I would hate our relation to be defined by the errors I made in my fear of seeing another Nightmare Moon."

I hesitated for a long time , not knowing whether or not I should forgive her. She had been the only one here to treat me like a monster, after all. And she did endanger Recto and I once already, when she intruded in that horrid place. Well, twice if you counted what she had just done, but that wasn't nearly on the same level. Besides, I could be sure that someone with her history would always try to find out what exactly I was, which could eventually become problematic.

But at the same time, her problem with Nightmare Moon made her somewhat protective of Recto, I had to give her that. And Recto liked her. Being openly hostile with her presence would probably make him sad. Besides, she was an old and powerful magic user. And she was one of the Duarchs of the ponies. There is no way that being in open war with her could end well.

I sighed and put my self-esteem away.

"I forgive you, Princess. That's water under the bridge." She smiled happily when she heard that. "I'm doing it because I think it's better for Recto, not because I like you."
"A shame," she said, deflating a little. "Maybe you will change your mind some day"
"I guess we'll see. Did you want to talk about anything else?"
"I suppose we could just have a bit of small talk. I can't fairly say that I know you all that well," she said, blushing a little.

I considered it for a moment. It would have probably been a good idea, but my outburst earlier had already took its toll on me, and I wasn't going to risk waking the other bastard up.

"I would be... ready to have a talk later, but I can't do it today." Before she could ask, I continued: "I'm not supposed to be alone in control, Princess. I'm not meant for that. Let that be your first lesson about me."
She narrowed her eyes, clearly interested. "Very well then. I shall not take more of your time. Until we meet again, Verso."
"Goodbye to you too, Princess Luna."

Her horn lit up and I was teleported back to that horrid crystal tree's balcony I was residing in. Naturally, with it came back the nausea from the spell and the headache from the location. Of course, it couldn't have been that simple, because I could already hear Princess Purple Horse calling our. She probably had been searching for us for a moment now, because she really sounded distressed. That, and I could hear her pony friends calling for us too.

"I'm here!" I shouted as I entered the palace.
"Verso?" someone called back from somewhere. "Where are you?"
"The balcony next to our room!"
Twilight appeared in front of me, probably teleporting from somewhere. "There you are! Where were you? We've been searching for you for an hour already!"
"Princess Luna wanted to see me," I told her as I walked downstairs to let her friends see me. "I would have thought she would have warned you."
"Well, she didn't! And you should have make sure of that anyway! We were worried sick!"
"Oh, come on, I'm fine. You know there's probably nothing out there that could be dangerous for me."
"That's not the point! Princess Celestia placed you in my care and..."

I zoned her out. She was only going to repeat her earlier lecture, and I wasn't really up to hearing it again. Besides, I was just going to say hi to her friends to reassure them and then go to sleep. With Recto sleeping already, I didn't have much of a choice. I sighed in comfort. Everything was going fine: I wasn't trapped anymore, Recto was making friends for the first time, which could only be beneficial for him, I made peace with the crazy blue princess and had contacts with another intelligent species. Pretty much everything was going rather well. The only problem was the other's power gain, but I could probably hold him off long enough for me to learn enough to find a better way to seal him away.

We finally arrived in one of the bigger rooms of the palace, where the other five ponies -and Spike- were waiting for you. Most of them seemed pretty upset with me, which was probably understandable since it was rather late. In fact, the only two that really smiled when they saw me were that pink abomination and the yellow pegasus, Buttershy, I think.

"You sure get lost frequently, Recto!" the rainbow one said. "I've been searching for you twice already!"
"Your correspondent is unavailable for the moment, please leave a message after I've slapped you because you keep mistaking us, Skittles" I replied, crossing my arms.
She blinked and blushed, flying a bit further away from me. Rarity took her place. "We were so worried about you, dear!"
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, none of you need to worry about us. We're fi..."

I was interrupted by the most painful thunderous roar I had ever heard coming from there. I immediately fell to my knees, screaming in pain as I felt as I felt like my very brain was boiling and my skull was covered in painful sandpaper. I think some of them gasped and rushed to my side, but none of them reached me before another roar, even more powerful than the last one, knocked me unconscious.

He was breaking free.

Author's Note

And that was the seventeenth chapter. I hope you liked it.
Please point out even tiny errors or weirdly said sentences: it would help me greatly improving my English.
Now, I'll get out of your hair.
See you in the next chapter : Freedom.

Chapter 18: Freedom

The winds were out of control, howling just behind the walls while thunder roared again and again and again, filling the air with its terrifying power and anger. The Doors was shaking from every impact it was receiving from the things it was containing. The chains themselves were being stretched to their breaking point, the Skies only knowing how they could still be holding.

And I was right in front of them, terrified beyond reason. I had somehow pushed the bed further away from the Gate and put all of my energy into reinforcing the chains as much as I could during Sky only knew how long. I could already hear the horrors hidden beyond the metallic panels whispering incomprehensible words to me. But, maybe worse of all, he was laughing about as much as he was roaring with every assault against the seal.

"Poor, poor Traitor, still believing he has any chance of getting away with crimes," he chuckled, his voice resonating in the room. "You can't fight against any single one of them, Traitor, and they are countless!"
"That's not possible!" I screamed back. "You shouldn't be able to be this powerful yet!"
"I have the power of Gods helping me, brother!" he roared. "I am breaking free now, and when I have, I will make you P̣̗̹͉̰͇̩̐̊͋͐͠Á͙͉̗̜͆ͩ͊͐ͣ̀Y̮̠̠̠͓̮͋͛̍͠ for your treachery!"

The Gate was hit one more time and I heard something break. I watched in horror, falling on the ground when I tried to step back, as one of the chains fell apart, quickly followed by the others, breaking one after the other. Soon, none of them were left, and the sounds stopped. I could only hear my own panicked breath.

Dark smoke started to leach into the room from the slight gaps of the Gate, staying next to it, and I could hear them moving just beyond the impossible doors. I whimpered when they started grinding on their hinges as they were slowly being opened from the intside. Dark light and mist were pouring from the space beyond the Gate and invaded the area surrounding it. As my eyes were glued on the moving, breathing abyss invading our soul, I could feel their disgusting eyes looking back at me. Their whispers were slowly gaining in intensity, effectively deafening me.

I crawled back to the bed, trying to block their view of Recto, still sleeping in the bed. I just knew they would hurt him if I ever gave them the chance, and even though I already knew it was all over for me, I was ready to fight as hard as I could before I even let them touch one of his hairs. They started to laugh as they realized what I was trying to do, their voices themselves tearing parts of my mind apart as it tried to understand them.

Eventually, the door opened itself enough to let something bigger try to make its way to this Sky-forsaken place. My breath picked up even more as I viewed his eyes glowing from the dark mists from beyond the Gate. I hadn't seen these eyes in twelve years and yet, it was still too recent. I could feel my resolve leaving me as the sheer terror made me want to puke. He hadn't even moved yet, still a few meters beyond the Gate, but I could already feel his power invading my soul, taking over.

"Ì͚̖͈͔̣̅ͫ̚'̼͓͈̠ͅv̞̺͈̳͇͇̌̈ͤ͐é̊́ ̤͚̘̰̓̓̊̃̈́̍b͙̪͙̤͆̍eͥ͌ͬ̽e͕͙̭͔̟͗̒̃̿̓̚n̩͙͙͔͎̝̆ͯ̌̆̃ͪ̏ ̲͍̖͓ŵ̱̠͔a͖͉̝̥̻̒̚ͅi̜̯̤͈̣t̠̫͔̭̫ͭ́͆̎͒́͂ī͓̬̳̞͍̀ͫ̔͛ͦ̍ñ̉g̻͖̥̟͊̉ ̞͕͔̄̃ͯ͊̓ͯ̉s͙̬ͧ̆ͥo̩͇͎̘̪̗̿ͯ ̘̗̞͇̀̋ͮl̙͆̀͋oͤͩ̈̓̎ṇ̤͉̩̖g̯̝͕̠ ̯̺͇̾̊̾f͇̤̗ͥō͉͉͈̞̳̫̾̏͂̅̈́r͎͆̂ ̝̭̞͙̽̐̉̈̓ͦ̍ͅt̟̗̥̠̻h̞͉̳̦̺̃̊ͩͣ̽ͤͦȉ͈͔͈̠̣̰͒̃ͤs̠̗̦͈͎̓ͦ̅̉̔ ̩̯̘̖̝ͤ͂̌̓m̘͓̺͒̊̎ͭ̐̇ͪo͙̙͓̼̱̹̊ͮ̇ͮ̐ͧͅmͦ̈́̃̍e̞̞͖͎͑̊n͚͔͎͓͓͕ͫ̽̈ͭ͐̽͗t͛.͉̪͉͎͋̅̍ͮͧ̇ͨ..." he said, his voice horrible enough to finally make me empty my fictional stomach.

He made his first step in my direction and I tried to step back further, even though I knew it was pointless.

"I'ͧ͆̆̉l̐ͯl͗̈̄̈ ̈́̋́̉̔̿f͚̘͕̹̬i̫̤͙͙nall͗̈y̽ b̖͕̫͈̙̃͂̊̈e̮̪͙͕̥̮ f̴̃̌ͫ̀r͍̗͈͇͓̦̠̃̿̒̋͌̾e̝̻̣͖̤͛͋ͪ̈̌̓͛ȩ͇̱̳̭̙͔͓ͪ̆̈́̍̈ ̖̼̲͙̂ͨ̎̅͒̚ͅͅaͧͫͪ̉ͮ̑̈͏̰͚̫̯͎͓g̬͙̲͖̮̍͆̆ͩ̄̕ȃ̜̦̤̰͔̔ìͪͩ̈́̑̆̽nͬ̅̌҉!" he said as he reached the Gate, stopping there for a second.

He slowly extended an arm as if to taste the air from this side of the Gate and shivered slightly with excitement. His eyes focused on us and he let his arm fall to his side. His unmoving, terrifying smile sharpened a bit.

"Oh, brother, I'm B̝͖̻̖̖ͤÄ̸̖̲͕̬́̃͒͌̐̐C̜̻̈́͂͑ͥ̒͜K̼͈͈ͤ̇ͨ͜ ! Aren't you going to give me a hug?"
"Go away, monster!" I screamed back. "You shouldn't exist anymore! I killed you!"
He frowned for an instant, as most of their voices chuckled darkly. His smile returned quickly. "Oh, that you did, T̶̄ͧ̚r̦̳̘͓ͥ́a̫͍̾̐ͅî͚ͣ͋ͩ̉t̛̥͇͈̪̦ͦ̂̃o̵̰͎̭̥̳̍̈́̋̌ͫṟͪ. But our friends simply didn't want to have any of it."

He caressed some of the shadows surrounding him, his gaze not moving away from us. The Whispers said something I couldn't understand, and he nodded, somehow understanding what they were saying.

"Father created us for one purpose, brother. And our friends are here to help us do it. I'll fulfill our d̟̩̗̲̜̮̖e̞̼̣̤̦͕͑ͅs̚͠t̫ͩi̢̞͍̥̫̭̖̩n͓͚̰͉̰͑̅y͎͓̺̆̈́̆ͮ.̖̅͗ͨ͗͗̀ ̜͕̩̼̥͇̩́̆̉̋͑Ḭ͓̲̘ͮ̆͌ͦ͑̉ͬͅ'̲̹ͪͨl̘̯̪̳̾ͯ̚͡l͕̬̪̝̰͖̃ͧ ̧̺̄ͮ̉̔͂ͧ̓o̼̳̱̘͇͇̫̾̆p̠̹͓̾̎̍̾ͤ̚ê̝̯̳̦ṋ͓̫̫̪͊̀̅ ̵̹̲̼̫̂͌͊͆͑͋͋ṭ̘̣̻̱̓̇ͣ̈́h̻̝̋͗ͫ͗̾e̡̜͑ ̨͓̝̞̳ͥ̎Gͦ͊͗̽̐҉͇͍̱̤ͅả̺̙̗̺̝̤́t͖̞̣̘̲͈ͯ̌ĕ̲͉̦̝̪̝̈̂ͤ̚!̶̲̜̦̺̥̱ͪ̽ͥͫ̌"

The shadows exploded in a hurricane, laughing and approving, scorching everything they touched.

"But first, I'll have to dispose of you and of that... thing you like so much," he said. "I wouldn't like you to stop me like last time."

He stepped in my direction, and I just knew it was the end. I braced myself and waited for it.

Instead, gigantic candy canes fell from the ceiling, embedding themselves into the ground and blocking his path, making him step back in surprise. The shadows cried in a cacophony of screams as they were sucked back into the void they came from. Two bisons dressed in pink tutus popped out of nowhere and started to close the Gate, but he stopped them, pushing from the other side.

"What is this?! That's... That's Father's power! How? Why is He helping you?!" he roared, making the thunder come back as he was slowly pushed back by the nonsensical bisons. "I won't be trapped here again! I don't know what Father is doing, but N̼̺͓̼̗̜͗͋̎́͌O͎̺̮̐̉ͦ̑̈ͪT̸͉ͤ̌ͬ͂H̸͖͖̭͋̍̌Ȋ̩͉͕̓N͓̗̓ͤ̊̈́͛ͨ̚Ğ̬̤͛ will force me back there alone with t͓̞͙̦͈̩͆͒ͅh̰̹͕͈̯̰̫ͫ́ͭe̲̳̬ͥ̔͑ͯm̮͎ͭͧ̏ ever again!"

The bisons started to be pushed back as the Whispers from behind the Gate were starting to help him keeping it open. I shivered as his blood-lust-filled eyes flashed in my direction, pure hatred powering them.

"I̭͇͕̞͇ ̲͔̬̭̉̾̚ͅǎ͖͌͆̒̐̿͊m̝̰̤̫͎̻̯ ̳̲̪̔̔̌̃̏K̲̯̱͊ͩ̃͌ͨ̈́̄á͛ÿ́̑̊̇ͥͧ̈!̝̪̖̘̙̖̽̽̔ͅ ̜̿͂I̲̪̗̱̩̞͐ͧ̊ͥ̈ͅ ̤̖̱͓̠͋̋ͬͥͧ͛h̞̦̉̒aͯ̽̃̍ͬͪv̖̩ͥ̾ͦ̿͛e̥͑ͪ̏ ̳̲̱͈̩̺̱̀̊ͧ̒̐G̦̪̀́͑ō̟̖̲͇̞̦ͪ́̐̚d͈̯̗̦͙ṣ̱̰̱͗̂ͫ̌ ̩̩̻̼͍̉̄͐̈̌s̙͎͙̖͚̖ͭ͆͛ͥ̐̓t̥̣̥̟͉̗͍͆̂̊͒̅̔ͫả̲̱̖̲̮n̅̓̀d̦͎̪ͦ̉̂̇ ̝͎͎̩̲ͥ̑̿̃͗b̆͋͗ͭ͑y̠ͮ̈́̃̓͐̓ ͇ͪͬ̑m̋ͤ̓͌́̆͗y͎̤͐̆̂͑ ̘̗̱̮͇̟͑̌̈́̓s̥͖̅ͫͭͧ͗̔ỉ̺̥̲̮̭̭̆̄d̰̬̳̘̻̫e̥͎͖̦͙͈͓!̙͕̹̜̰̣̫ ̞̳͎̱̥̬̙ͭ͌͂ͤͨͣI͆ ͤ́̋̅ͮ̀͒W̳̖͍̲͎̾͛Ọ͈͈̤̘̫̟N̗̬̆̄̍̄'̘̌T̻ͪ̌ͧ̾͗ͫ ͛͒ͧ̀ͣͫ̉Fͣ͊Ạ͎̞̦ͧ̑̂̏I͔̼͆ͯͭ́͐̋L̳̑̇̆̌͐ ͓̻͙̈͊̌̔ͬ̚A̻͔̪̜̹͍͒͒̂̍ͤ͂G̬̻̤͆ͩ̎͐ͣͬ̍A̠̪͓͈̙̩̭ͦI̙͔̗͊ͧN̩̄͆ͪ̅ͦ!̹͎" he said, his voice resonating with the power they were filling him with.

Seeing that whatever was helping me wasn't wining anymore, I braced myself, shot a last glance at Recto sleeping form, and stepped forward. I activated my own magical power and recreated the chains he had destroyed just moments ago. They surged to the Gate and encased it in a new cocoon of metal, shielding me from seeing him. I then pulled them tighter and tighter, helping the two bisons closing it. With the three of us, we were finally overpowering him. We were wining!

"N͔͓̭̼͔̜͆̿́o͢!̘ͤ̈ͨͭ̆ ̬̱̏N̶̻̲͎͂̿͐ͭ̋o̭̤ͫͥͮͣ,̩̭̘̟̯̭͌ͧ͂ ̲͓̯̭̅̌n̯͇̻̒̑ͩo̬̗͉̐̑,̵͎̝̳ͫ͌̈́̉̑ ̙͛̇ͤͯ̿̉͛n͙͓͕͉̙͕̊͒ͣͩͬ̓ͨo̶̻̼̤̦͊͒͂͛̈́,̹͓̖̟͇ ̘̠̞͉̘͖̰̎̐̂Ǹ͔̪̯̬̰̰̩ͥͯͪ͆Ó͔̟̙̥̫ͯ̇ͯ̃ ̶̖̩̼͓̣͒͊̇ͣ̌ͅͅ!̛͉̐͆͋̓̈́ Ị̍ͤ̏͛ͨ̑ ̫̫̝̃̔ͣ͑̍̃D̹̰̬̪̋̒̀̈ͪ̚O̼̮͖̓ͣN̝̻̞̰ͭ̉̂̽́ͭ̈́ͅ'͇̺͕̤̍̐̅̋͛͐̐ͅŢ̗̩ͪ̌̑̈́̚ ͉͆W̩ͨ̈͊̈́͡Ạ̜̜̬̫ͦ̕Ṅ̥̮̣̪͙̖̹̄ͯ̚Ţ̣̹͚̪̻̗ͦͮͭ ̧̘̳͕̣̞̲͌̓̇͑̓̓T̙̪̱̘̘̯ͅȌ҉̻ ̧̬̥͐ͥ̌̓G̱̥͈̹͂ͣ̅͊̀O͖̭̻̹̣ͦ̑͊ ̜̉B̺̥̳̤̓A̓̑̓̾҉̻̫͚͎͈C̵̘̙̦̝̪̱̹Ḱ̪͕̫̃!̤͎̝͍̙̘̣̄͌"

The Gate finally closed, putting an end to his screams of rage. I fell to my knees, out of breath. We weren't safe. He could probably break free again. And I didn't have to power to hold him back at all. I hadn't even finished to think these depressing thoughts that something happened to my chains: they glowed in some color that I didn't even recognize. I screamed in surprise, fearing that maybe one of them had damaged my new chains already, until I felt them actually strengthening, some ungodly amount of power being poured into them from somewhere. Looking around me, I could see that the candy canes and absurdly dressed bisons had disappeared.

I took a few moments to make sure that he wasn't breaking free anymore and moved back Recto's bed to the center of the room, where it belongs. I was too weak to wake us up on my own for the moment, so I waited, inspecting the new chains I was somehow given, until I heard a gentle knocking coming from somewhere. I jolted back, searching for the knocking's origin, and discovered a wooden door that I felt was leading to the outside of the room, into the desolated lands. That wasn't normal. There was no such door in this room, normally. And I could have wondered about its origin for a long time if I didn't hear a voice coming from behind.

"Recto? Verso? Are you in there?" I heard Luna calling.

I quickly thought back to the situation of my body in the real world. I was unconscious, that was certain, and I had screamed in pain just before falling unconscious, surrounded by Twilight and her pony friends. They probably called for help, as it probably looked like I was having a horrible nightmare from the outside, and asked the princess of dreams to come help me. Was it possible that it was her that helped me fight him back? Improbable, since she didn't even know of his existence and hadn't displayed even a fraction of this power when I fought her.

Still, she was technically on my doorstep. I glanced back at the Gate, hoping nothing would try to come out of it again, and went to open the door.

"Verso!" she cheered happily when she saw me. "Are you okay? You were... having quite a lot of a problem in the physical realm."
"We're alright, Princess," I answered, my exhaustion audible. "And thanks for not carelessly breaking into our soul without an invitation."
"Is Recto..."
"Recto is safe too, of course," I told her.
She sighed in relief. "I am happy to know you are feeling fine at last. Princess Twilight Sparkle contacted me right after I sent you back to her, saying you just passed out after you randomly screamed in pain while you were talking with her and her friends. And when I arrived, I found you whimpering and screaming in your sleep, your own magic completely out of control! I've been trying to contact you through your dreams for hours now!" she added, shivering. "I don't know what was happening here before Discord intervened, but I kept arriving in a hurricane and couldn't reach you. What happened to you?"
"What was that about Discord intervening?" I asked quickly, forcing my exhausted mind to make connections.
"He arrived just a few minutes ago when your magic was at its worst and did something that calmed you down. I don't even kow how he learned that you were in peril, though..."

My mind rushed informations. Kay had just said that what allowed me to defeat him was 'Father's work', though our biological father didn't have any power of any sort. But then, he also said something about that same entity having made us for the sole purpose of opening that damn Gate. And the thing leeching inside the pink pony's brain that apparently knew a lot about us talked about a Father too... And the power Discord had at his disposal, able to nearly single handedly beat the crap out of the Whispers behind the Gate... Not to discount the fact that he apparently brought me to Equestria because he felt guilty about something he had done to me...

"Is Discord still around, Princess?" I asked, trembling as I felt the familiar fire of anger building inside me.
"I believe so," she hesitantly replied, probably catching on the signs of my growing rage.

I don't know how I could still be thinking clearly at this point, but thank the Skies for it. I glanced at the Gate inside, making sure she couldn't see it. I knew I was too exhausted to wake up safely on my own. Kay was still trapped behind it, but he could very well try and break free again, and I wouldn't be able to hold him off for a second in my current state. Being alone at the commands in my current state would have destroyed the seal on its own.

I tried to cool down, which isn't all that hard when you're on the verge of passing out from exhaustion in your own mind. I just don't know what length I could have reached if I had had an ounce of power left in me back then, but it wouldn't have been pretty. I weakly glanced back at Luna, who had a mix of worry and curiosity on her face.

"I am beyond exhausted, Princess. Could you tell Discord that I want to talk with him when we wake up?"
"I can," she confirmed. "And I will, once you tell me what happened to you. It wasn't natural, Verso, and it could do plenty of damage if it happened again without anyone to help you."

I clenched my hands into fists and looked away. Don't I know it... I thought of an easy lie to tell her. There was no way in hell I was going to let anyone in this world know exactly what lurks in the dark corners of my soul.

"This is something that can happen when I go too far over my boundaries, like staying alone in control for too long and using too much of my magic at the same time." Not technically a real lie. I mean, I didn't exactly test it yet, but I'm not going to take the chance.
She narrowed her eyes anyway. "Lying to me would be a very poor idea, Verso. I hope you understand it well?"
Damnit. Maybe I should have faked evading the question until she forced me to get the lie out. "Would you please stop thinking I have some kind of nefarious scheme, Princess Luna?" I asked, trying to make her feel uneasy enough to stop prying. "I thought you had finally understood that I am not some kind of manipulative mind predator?" She looked away and sighed. Success.
"I'm sorry. I simply don't want to take any chance. Your magical outburst was... something. Princess Twilight brought you to your room, and you effectively destroyed anything that isn't part of the castle itself."
Huh. "I'll see that when I wake up, Princess. Right now, I need to rest, unless you want to risk another 'outburst'."
"I'll leave you alone, then. I would like to talk with you when you wake up, though. This place is..."
"None of your concern," I completed harshly. "We've made peace and I am happy you didn't try to intrude further into our soul, Luna, but I still don't want anything entering this place."
She glared at me, disappointed and probably frustrated with the fact that I didn't let her have it her way. "So be it. I'll transfer your message to Discord. Rest well."

She vanished from this realm and I walked back inside. I cursed my inability to get sleep the way Recto could -closing his eyes, having dreams and waking up what seemed like a moment later, replenished- and sat next to his bed, hoping it would make time go by faster. At least, it was quiet.

I woke up yawning and stretching. And incredibly hungry. Seriously, the second I had woke up, our stomach immediately growled loudly. I looked around sleepily, searching for our clothes, as Verso visibly had the strange idea of going to bed completely naked. I also noticed something strange about our bedroom, but I simply couldn't put our finger on it. I shrugged and kept looking around for our clothes, that I simply couldn't find.

"Verso, do you know where we put our new clothes?" I muttered, yawning in between. "I can't find them."
Mmh? Oh, you woke up... he said, his voice so tired it made me want to go to sleep again. I zoned out, and didn't even realize.
"That sounds weird. Are you okay? I don't think I ever heard you sounding so tired."
Yeah, about that... We had some kind of a problem shortly after I finished my talk with Luna.
"Did you upset her again?" I asked as I opened a random drawer that I didn't remember was there the day before.
No, I... Well, I maybe did end up upsetting her, but that's not the point. The point is: this isn't our bedroom.
I stopped searching, instead just looking at the disposition of the room. "Oh. Well, that explains why I can't find anything. Did you destroy the room again?" Maybe he had another nightmare.
Sort of. I fear I may have burned everything in there.
I gasped. "Was it because of a spider?"
Wha... No! Of course not!
"Good. 'Cause spiders are scary. They're everywhere, always looking at you with their little eyes. I mean, they have eight of them! What kind of creature has eight eyes? I'll tell you what kind does: the bad kind. They..."
Recto, he said with a drained voice. We are getting off topic. The problem is...
"Hey, I heard his voice!" Rainbow Dash said as she rocketed into the room, throwing our door open violently. "Are you up yet?"

We locked eyes. She was in our room. Looking at us. While we were completely naked.

My awesome totally deep cry of surprise was definitely masculine as I hid behind the closest piece of furniture, our face feeling like it was on fire. Rainbow herself flapped backward, surprised by my reaction.

"I... Don't ponies know how to knock?!" I asked.
"What's in the hay is going on in here?" asked Applejack as she rushed inside too, making me scream in a perfectly manly fashion again.
"Why do you keep coming in here?!" I hissed. "I'm not dressed yet!"
Applejack blinked. "Beg yer pardon?"
"Get out!"
"But..."

They didn't have the time to protest any further before they were wrapped in a purple aura and dragged outside. They doors closed themselves in the same way, and I heard miss Twilight from the corridor:

"Calm down, Recto," she said in a calming voice. "We've put you clothes in the dresser."
I blinked and looked at the big purplish dresser I was hiding behind. "Huh. Thank you, miss Twilight!" I called as I quickly opened it and discovered our older set of clothes. "I wonder what happened to those miss Rarity made us," I muttered while I dressed up.
That may be related to the problem I was talking about. We had some sort of magical outburst yesterday. I don't know the full consequences yet, but I was told that it was pretty bad.
"Bad like bad bad or like BAD bad?"
Uh... BAD bad?
I gasped again. "BAD bad? NOOOOoooo!"
I am so completely lost right now...
"How could we destroy another glass of chocolate milk?" I cried.
Oh, Skies... he groaned. I'm too tired for this shit...
"Is everything alright in here?" miss Twilight asked from the corridor, sounding puzzled.
"How could you let us do that, miss Twilight? That is a crime against everything that tastes good!"
"I... What?"
For fuck's sake, Recto, CALM DOWN! Verso shouted with an upset tone, making me stop crying over spilled deliciousness. No glass of milk was harmed during our outburst!
I was finally reassured. Then worried again. "What could have possibly happened that would reach that BAD bad on the bad scale then?" I gasped for the third time. "Did you turn someone into a potted cactus?"
I don't think so, Verso patiently said. I just know that most of our room was magically burned. Which means that I probably destroyed what Rarity made us.
"Oh..." I moaned, saddened. "I liked those... They were green!"
Yes, he said on the same patient tone.Yes they were. Now, I think Twilight wanted to talk, and the fastest we can get this over with, the longest I will be able to rest peacefully.

I picked ourself up and went to open the door, revealing a puzzled miss Twilight. Behind her, Rainbow Dash was moving a hoof in circle a few centimeters away from her temple, while her eyes were crossed and she was sticking out her tongue out, earning a quick glare from Applejack next to her. She immediately stopped when she saw us, though, and blushed a bit, looking away.

I sometime fear that Rainbow Dash may have some mental troubles. You should talk with her too one of these days.

"Good morning Recto," miss Twilight said after she shook her head a bit. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked, her horn lighting up with purple magic as she scanned us.
"Pretty fine. I'm rather hungry, though," I said, another loud grumbling from the depths of our stomach confirming my words.
Applejack snorted. "That don't surprise me, with y'all sleeping for nearly a whole day."
"What." That wasn't really a question.
Oh, so that's why it felt so fucking long.
"It's nearly time for sunset, Recto."

I stared at miss Twilight silently for a solid five seconds before I walked back into the room to get a look through a window. And the sun was setting alright: only half of it was barely visible over the horizon as it was slowly disappearing between two mountains.

That's not going to mess with our sleep schedule at all, Verso grumpily noted.
"Aw, we missed a full day!" I whimpered. "That not fun!"
"We can go grab something to eat if you want," miss Twilight said as she started leading to the kitchen. "And then, we can start discussing what happened," she added, eyeing us.
"Yay, food!"

I joined the three ponies on our way to deliciousness and nourishment. We got there quickly to find Fluttershy and miss Rarity drinking some tea and chatting happily. Spike himself was wearing a cute little pink apron and gloves as he was getting some cookies out of the some contraption -an oven, I later learned. When we arrived, the three of them immediately turned their head in our direction. Fluttershy squeaked and tried to hide behind her mane, which by the way isn't a very effective way to hide yourself, whereas miss Rarity calmly laid her cup down on the table.

"Recto, dear!" she called. "Are you feeling okay? After your outburst yesterday night, we were all so worried!"
"We are," I answered as I sat down and grabbed one of the still warm biscuits. "Verso's little tired, though. I don't think he'd be able to follow your lessons, miss Twilight."
"That's fine," she said, sitting down to. "I wasn't planning on doing any more of those yet anyway, not until I know precisely what happened to you."
Sky fucking damnit.
I nodded and started to munch on it, appreciating the warm sugary treat. I then remembered what bothered me earlier and turned to miss Rarity. "Oh, and I am so, so sorry that we destroyed the clothes you just made us! I liked them so much!"
"Don't worry a thing, dear,"she replied, smiling kindly. "It was an accident and they were just clothes. I'm already relieved to know you are not hurt."
"But..."
"No buts. What's done is done anyway. Now, I think we all want to know: what exactly was that all about?"
"I have no idea. I was already sleeping, so Verso was the only one in control when whatever happened happened." I gulped down the cookie while they were sharing a glance. I then noticed something was missing. "Hey, why isn't Pinkie Pie here?" I gasped. "Did we burn her too?"
"No!" miss Twilight answered, somewhat horrified. "Thank Celestia, you were alone when it started being dangerous around you. No, she's still working at Sugarcube Corner. She'll come soon, though."
Ask them what happened on the outside from the moment I fainted.
I did just that. "Well, when we were lecturing you about the dangers of disappearing without a word," started miss Twilight,"you suddenly screamed and fell to your knees, clutching your head with your hands. It looked like you were in great pain. You screamed a second time and fainted before any of us would react."
"I was so scared that we somehow did that..." Fluttershy squeaked.
Miss Rarity nodded and continued. "And even when you were unconscious, you were mumbling and whining in your sleep. You looked absolutely terrified!"
"We tried to wake you up," miss Twilight continued, "but nothing worked. So I carried you back to your room and contacted Princess Luna via Spike. She teleported herself in and we were explaining what happened when we heard and explosion in your room. When we arrived, you were screaming again and your magic was out of control, shooting lightning and burning everything around you while your body spasmed. I concealed the effects as much as I could and Princess Luna tried to contact you through your dreams. It went on for a long time and it didn't seem like you were getting better. Your body looked like it was attacking itself with magic, and that was horrifying to watch. You also started 'leaking' some sort of dark smoke that looked somewhat familiar, even though I can't put my hoof on where I've seen it before."
Familiar? What does she mean, 'familiar'?
"And then?" I asked, grabbing another cookie. It was pretty interesting so far, and the cookies were really tasty too.
"We didn't know what to do, and Princess Luna couldn't reach you in your sleep. We were really scared for you when Discord appeared out of nowhere soon after that black stuff started to appear and shoved us aside without any explanations. He got next to you and and poked your forehead. It nearly instantly calmed you down and your outburst ended there. When we asked about what he did to you, he told a joke and disappeared again. Princess Luna then talked to Verso and said you would be fine."
She didn't tell them what I told her?
"Verso says that he explained everything to Luna. She didn't tell you anything?"
Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Nah. She even advised Twilight not to take risks and stop teaching you magic until she was satisfied with your explanation!"
What a b... Well, I guess I did brought this one on my head.
"So?" miss Twilight asked, intrigued. "You do know what happened to you, then?"
Let me out. It'll be faster to explain that way.
But you're tired! You shouldn't over exert yourself.
As long as you don't go to sleep while I'm out, I'll be just fine.
I let him out after I swallowed the chunk of biscuit in our mouth. "As Recto said, I'm rather tired, so I'll make this quick: I am not meant to control our body on my own, so it's rather taxing on my mind. And using magic when I am alone in the commands makes it even worse."
Applejack looked at us like Verso was an idiot. "Well then why are you doin' it right now! Ain't that mighty dangerous?"
"I'm not alone. Recto is still there, unconsciously supporting our body so that I don't have to."
"But how does that explain anything?" Rainbow Dash intervened. "Okay, you get tired. Big deal! Nopony turns into a magical powerhouse when they're tired!"
"Shut up, Skittles, you're missing the point." Rainbow Dash's face turned red and she looked like she was about to yell at us when he continued. "I wasn't tired. It's more of something like being overloaded."
Miss Twilight nodded, looking like she understood. "And it's this 'overloading' that started everything."
Verso nodded. "Exactly." Applejack flinched for some reason. "Its like using a cog as wheel: it works for a moment if you force a bit, but it will break sooner out later."
"Is it common for you?"
"Thank the Skies, no!" Verso answered, smiling. "It has only happen once before, years ago. And that was when nobody helped. Now, I'm not exactly sure about what Discord did, so I'll have to talk to him soon, but I should be fine as long as I don't assume complete control on my own for a moment."
"That's good to hear, dear."
"But what was that black thing?" miss Twilight asked.
Verso twitched, but didn't lose his smile. "I don't know how it works for our body," he explained, making Applejack flinch again. "I was honestly too busy making sure my soul wasn't torn apart." Applejack looked like she was about to say something, but he interrupted her. "Now, I'll return to the background. I have to rest a bit after all."

He left the commands and sat back, watching. I listened to another growling from our stomach and looked at miss Twilight with my serious face on. Spike and Rainbow Dash giggled.

"Now that Verso explained everything, can we go eat something? Cookies are good, but Verso says we kinda need to eat correctly."
"Of course. Spike! Do we still..."

She was interrupted by the sound of the massive amount of trumpets that appeared out of nowhere and played a deafening royal introduction that blew most of the ponies away. A red carpet unfolded from the door and mister Discord entered, wearing the outfit of a royal announcer and carrying a big scroll. He let it unroll in front of him as he cleared his voice and it easily reached far behind us.

"Hear ye, hear ye! The human creature residing within these rooms and referring to itself as either Recto or Verso is hereby summoned by our fair rulers of the land and protectors of the realm, the great and eternal princesses Celestia and Luna, blessed be their name. He is asked to come forward and shall follow us to his destination in their royal court."
My gaze was switching between mister Discord and miss Twilight. I settled it on mister Discord. "But I'm hungry! Can it wait until I've eaten?"
"He will also be served chocolate milk on the..."

I didn't even let him finish his sentence before I bounced on him, grabbed his fuzzy lion paw and turned to give a final glance at miss Twilight.

"'Kaythanksbye!" I turned back to look at mister Discord. "Gimme the chocolate now!"

Mister Discord grinned, snapped his claw and we disappeared.

We reappeared in some sort of blank void and I immediately knew something was wrong. It took me a little while to realize what though, but when I finally did, I nearly fell to my knees: I couldn't feel Recto in our head. I closed my eyes and accessed the room, something I really shouldn't be doing when I'm in control, and sighed in precious relief when I found him still sleeping in the bed, like he always does. An instant told me he was fine, just that he was forced to sleep for the moment. And I knew exactly why, as the perpetrator of the crime was floating upside-down just a few meters away from me.

I was angry when Luna asked Recto to sleep.

I was beyond enraged that he fucking dared to force him.

"What have you done to him, you skydamn motherfucker?!" I roared. "Wake him up now!" I tried to access my magic to strangle the fucking chimera, but I was unable to reach it for some reason, turning my rage into panic. "What's going on? What have you done?!"
He chuckled and traced half a circle in the air, effectively rotating me so that we both had the same way up. "Calm down, my dear Verso. I just think you and I have a bunch of things to talk about. And don't worry about your little brother, he will stay calm."

I clenched my fists, seriously weighting the pros and cons of punching a god chimera in the face to see if his giant fang would come out.
"Wake him up this instant," I hissed. "It is our choice whether or not he goes to sleep."
"After I helped you seal him back? That would be pretty inconvenient. I don't really want him to be awake in this Era. No, I believe we will have a little talk, and then you'll have one with the princesses, and then I'll just send you back to the Palace of Harmony."
"You..."
"Oh, but where are my manners. Please, take a seat!" he snapped his claw and I was forced to sit in a chair. "Besides, I'm sure you have a lot of questions to ask, and I have a lot of answer to deny you. So please, fire at will!"

Oh, by everything that is holy for every last creature in the world, you have no idea how much I wanted to strangle him until his eyes pooped out of their orbits. But the fact that I couldn't use magic and that he willed cuffs into existence to prevent me from moving my arms from the armrests were doing much to stop me from at least trying. He just waited, sipping on a liquid cucumber sandwich, until I calmed down a little. When I decided that committing deicide would be a poor idea, I stopped trying and settled with glaring at him as much as I could. He smiled.

"Now, onto the recent matters: Yes, I know of your little hidden mind-mate. Yes, I helped you stop him from taking over and doing something rather bad. Yes, Kay has heard of me through all of his cute little friends. No, I won't answer anything about how they know me. Yes, he grows in power since you arrived in Equestria. Yes, you should be fine with what I did in your soul chamber as long as you don't outright let him take over. No, I won't comment on anything he told you while he was breaking free. Do you have anymore questions?"

I kind of didn't really have any. He answered or straight up told he wouldn't say a thing about most of them. I thought for a moment, until one question I always had to hope to see answered imposed itself on my mind.

"Could you kill him?"
"He is part of you, boy. I didn't went all the way back to your time just to kill you myself."

I clenched my fists. I didn't like that answer at all. But there was another, maybe more important, question I had to ask.

"And what about helping..."
"No. That's final."
"Why not?!" I screamed at him. "What I have going on right now has already failed so many times! I can't..."
"Put your past behind you, boy. Like it or not, I won't intervene more into your soul. It is in balance for now, that's all you need to know."
"No its not!" I finally erupted. "I don't know how long I will be able to make it work! I already lost most of my control trying to keep it functioning and I've only been doing it for little more than a decade for Sky's sake! Who knows how long it will take for either my body or my souls breaks apart for good?"
"I'm sure you'll find a way," he answered, grinning like the asshole he is. "You're in magical pony land after all. You have so much more possibilities than you had on your little planet."
"Are you saying that there's a way?"
"Oh, there is. Multiple ones even. But I'll let you decide whether or not you want to try doing such things when you learn of their prices."
"I..."
"Now, I had promised the silly princesses to bring you to them. And I also promised your little friend some prize. Take this," he said, snapping his claw again and making a glass of chocolate milk appear out of nowhere for me to catch. "Now, remember: Kay won't be able to break this seal, but that doesn't mean he and his friends will stop trying to find a way around it. And he should soon be able to keep you company during the nights again. Now, have fun with the magical pony princesses!"

He snapped his claw again.

We immediately reappeared in the Throne Room in Canterlot, a glass filled with precious and delicious liquid now in our hands, making me squee in happiness as I immediately downed it. When I was finished, it disappeared on its own and I started looking around. Mister Discord was nowhere to be seen, but Luna and miss Princess Celestia were sitting side to side on the throne. Well, more like miss Princess Celestia was sitting on the throne and Luna was sitting on a cushion next to it, but that's pretty much the same. Around them were several bored-looking guards. I think one of them was even snoring lightly with his eye open, which was really funny.

I waved at the princesses as I walked in their direction. Some of the guards furrowed their brows when I did, but none of them moved.

"Hello, miss Princess Celestia!" I happily called from across the room, waking the snoring guard up. "And hello, Luna! How are you?"
Miss Princess Celestia cracked a warm smile like she usually does. "We're perfectly fine, Recto. Thank you for asking."
"How come I don't get a 'miss Princess' before my name?" Luna asked, looking displeased. "You are aware that my sister and I share the power, don't you?"
"That's because miss Princess Celestia is someone I think I should always be really respectful with. Like a mom. Or Santa!" Luna didn't seem to like my answer, and even miss Princess Celestia apparently didn't know how to take it. "Whereas you, Luna, I feel more comfy around you. Like a friend. Or Santa!"
Luna blushed a bit and miss Princess Celestia chuckled. "I don't figure Discord told you why we wanted to see you, did he?"
I shook our head. "Nah. Mister Discord said that you wanted to see us, but that's all. And he gave us chocolate! It was great!" I gasped when I came to a sudden realization. "I should have brought cookies too! I'm pretty sure they would taste even better with the chocolate milk! And we could have shared! Why didn't I think of that! You aren't mad, are you? I'm sorry! I'll bring cookies next time, I promise! Even better idea: I'm pretty sure I could find some in the kitchen. We should go get cookies!"
They blinked. "I don't think now is the time to eat baked goods, Recto," miss Princess Celestia said.
I gasped again. "There's a time to eat them? That's awful! Why can't we just eat cookies all the time? That just silly. If they taste fine, you should be able to eat them whenever you want! Are you going to tell me there's a time to eat cakes too? That would be absurd!"
Miss Princess Celestia muttered something darkly while Luna smiled, amused by what her sister said. "You do sound full of energy at least. That's good to hear after your 'accident'."
"Of course I'm energetic! We've just slept a whole day! That's the first time it happened! Well, I think it is, because you know, it's kinda hard to know if you slept an entire day when the sun doesn't shine down where you live, but you get the point. And I'm hungry too! I ate some cookies but I don't think it was enough. And Verso says that we should eat healthier food anyway. Are cookies unhealthy? Please tell me they're not! I mean, I'm pretty sure they're not. Something that tastes this good obviously can't be bad for you. Just think about it: your body tells you it tastes good, so it must be! It all makes sense, right?"

Luna massaged the rim of her snout with a hoof as if she was in the process of having a headache. Miss Princess Celestia was writing something on a scroll, some sort of hidden intensity coming out of her eyes, as if she was writing something that could change the entire world. Her horn lit up brighter and the letter burned immediately, sent to its destination. She then cleared her throat.

"As much as this conversation is pleasant and is deriving toward a certain topic that always deserves my attention, we need to have a talk, Recto. First, what happened to you yesterday?"
"Verso said he explained everything to Luna when she came in his dream. He was pretty upset when he had to explain everything again to miss Twilight and her friends earlier."
"He only gave me a rough explanation because he was exhausted," Luna said. "We'd like to hear a more complete one."
I nodded. Well, Verso here's your cue to explain everything again. As he didn't answer immediately, I realized that I could barely feel him in the deep recess of our shared mind, either brooding or ignoring everything that happened around us. Verso? Are you okay? Or maybe you're trying to sleep again?
My voice seemed to wake him up slowly and his soul took back its usual place. Sorry, I was... elsewhere. He croaked. I'll explain them, just leave it to me.

He took control and quickly repeated exactly what he told miss Twilight and her friends. They both looked at each other when he said that he didn't know what mister Discord ad done, though.

"We sent him to get you so that he could explain it to you. Didn't he?"
Verso flinched and looked away. "I am still weak from all this and I'll go back to rest."

And, without another word, he did, fading out of our mind like he usually does. I shrugged it off and smiled back at the princesses.

"Now that it's been taken care of, will you send us back to miss Twilight or do we get the pleasure of dining with you?"
"Don't... Is he already sleeping?" Luna asked, upset.
"Yes. He just said he was going to! You should listen to him a bit more. I thought you two were friends now!"
"'Friends' might be pushing it," she muttered back. "He didn't answer!"
"Yeah, but we didn't talk with mister Discord. And you didn't answer me either."
"I'll send you back to Twilight, Recto," miss Princess Celestia calmly said. "Rest well."

Her horn lit up and we reappeared in miss Twilight's castle. Most of the ponies had disappeared but we were immediately assaulted by pinkness incarnated, who jumped at us to try and break our ribs with a warm hug.

"Recto! You're here!" Pinkie Pie joyfully said as she crushed us with her forelegs. "I was so worried that I had missed you! But you're here! You know this calls for?" I somehow squeaked something, her hug too powerful to let me talk correctly. "Exactly! A party!"
"Pinkie Pie? Who are you talking with?" asked Twilight as she entered the room, reading a familiar letter. "You're supposed to help me with Princess Celestia's requ... Oh, Recto, you're back!" I weakly wheezed something. "Pinkie Pie! Let him go! He can't breath!"
"Oh? Oh!" She dropped me and I greedily breathed as much air as our body would let me. "Sorry!"
"That's... nothing," I weakly said, still out of breath. I then turned to miss Twilight. "Can we still eat something? I'm still hungry!"
"Of course! It's perfectly timed too: Princess Celestia asked me study the relation between appreciating the taste of food and its effect on the body! Pinkie Pie and I were about to start with cupcakes! You will be a perfect guinea pig.

Best. Day. EVER.

I went back to our soul antechamber to think about what Kay and Discord had just revealed. Most of it was pretty heavy stuff. First, that Kay wouldn't be able to evade except if I let him out, which wouldn't happen unless hell had finally frozen over, which meant I was virtually freed from his threats for the moment. The fact that Discord had something to do even with our problem back on Earth and was somehow linked to Kay and the Whispers from behind the Gate was disturbing, but it it wasn't like I could do anything about it.

But there was clearly some piece of information that was so much more valuable than the others to me. There was not only one, but several ways of getting everything right! I looked at a wall and willed another room into existence. Something that Recto wouldn't feel and that Luna wouldn't find even if she invaded this room once again. With Recto awake and the new seal Discord had given me, I could freely go there and plan.

Its walls were giant white screens that I would be able to write on as I would desire. In the center of the room was a computer that would let me access bits of my memory as I needed it to confirm a theory or another. I walked to the wall in front of me and started writing down my plan, starting with the beginning and declining it again and again into different steps. Of course, my own lack of knowledge about the magical arts left blanks all over the place, but I hoped it would straighten itself as learned more about it.

It took me a few hours, long enough for Recto to eat, interact with with Twilight and the pink horror, and get tired again. Of course, I knew that I probably would be forced to leave this room when he would fall asleep, as I would have to use more of my subconscious to make our body work, but that wasn't important. As Recto slowly fell asleep, I looked one last time at the first two steps of my plan.

"First, learning more attack spells with Twilight. Then, to the Everfree."

Author's Note

Hello again! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter at least as much as I enjoyed writing it.
We now have more infos: Kay is the name of the one beyong the Gate! What is is relation with Recto and Verso? What does Verso need help about exactly? Why does food that tastes amazing is usually either bad or really bad for your health? Will Recto finally get over his chocolate milk addiction. I'm serious, that's becoming a problem.
All these questions and more wiil probably not be adressed in the next chapter.
What will be talked about in the next chapter, though: Fire, Kitty Cats and Giant Snakes!
See you soon in the Chapter 19: Waltz of the Forest!

Chapter 20: Royal Blood

Verso gritted our teeth and closed our eyes, having a much harder time concentrating as the basilisk went in for a bone-crushing hug. As nice as it was, I had the feeling it wasn't really interested in becoming friends. Giant snakes that can petrify people by glancing at them rarely are, I think. Especially when they're hungry.

"Son of a bitch!" Verso cried.
"Eek! I'm being squished!" Lyra called, distressed.

Verso didn't reply and kept concentrating instead, even though I didn't understand why since the grabby-grabby-snaky -I've just thought about it and I'm keeping this name!- was seemingly immune to magic. Then, the GGS hissed loudly and released us, making us fall to the ground. Sadly, Verso didn't quite catch us steadily, so we mostly crashed into the ground, but at least, we weren't held as tightly as before.

"I hate everything..." Verso muttered while we were face to the ground.
"Eek! I'm being squished!" Lyra called, distressed.

Verso grunted and rolled on our back, careful not to crush her any further. Basil the Grabby Snake was still writhing around, sometimes whipping the ground with his body, which looked at least half as dangerous as it was funny. But mostly, it was confusing.

What's happening? Why is it jumping around?
Probably because I stabbed him in multiple places with sharp rocks. Verso laconically answered. Fucking scaled bastard...
"What's happening? Why is it jumping around?" Lyra asked when she finally got out of our pocket and looked at the bouncing snake.
Skies... This is exactly why I hate being on the front... Verso internally groaned. "Stuff."

Lyra blinked and Verso grunted as he sat up, carefully glancing at the big bouncy basilisk, that I finally realised was throwing red stuff all around the place. More importantly, wherever the red liquid landed, it immediately started to smoke and hiss, sounding a bit like bubbling soda.

"Oh, great, even its blood is acid," Verso grumbled as usual. "How in hell did nature allow such a thing to exist in the first place is beyond me." He emitted a small sense field inside us to check on injuries while Lyra fluttered in front of us.
"No, seriously, what happened to the basilisk?"
"Sticks and spells won't break its scales, but rocks have done it for me," he replied without even glancing at her. He then pointed at half-crushed stone spikes that were just under the basilisk. "I just basically stabbed it until it let us go."
"Uh. Well, it worked. What are we doing now?"
"Wait a sec. Still have to get rid of the fucker after all."

He focused a bit and a few more rock spikes grew out of the ground, making Basil hiss even louder. He then looked around and uprooted a rather big tree, broke off its branches to leave only the trunk, magically sharpened one end until he ended up with a giant stake. He blinked, shifted his stare between the big stake and the basilisk a few times and finally mentally cursed.

Recto, I'm sorry, but I have to ask you to go to sleep once again. Same reason as before.
Aw... But I wanna see you stab the snake! Just like in the book!
He blinked again, honestly surprised.Stabbing and hurting things is not a good action, Recto, even when it's a monster. You shouldn't even think about it, and it's definitely not something to enjoy.
But... But it's a meanie!
That isn't an excuse to want it to be hurt, Recto. I'm a bit disappointed.

I felt really, really bad when he told me that. I quietly went sleeping without another word, sniffing.

Skies, there are no words to describe how much I hate myself for even thinking these words. These were maybe the most hypocritical words I have ever uttered, and I nearly brought Recto to tears. I know he is unable to comprehend the concept of pain without crashing down, but skies are these sort of rogue thoughts creepy when they come by. And dangerous too. The main reason that I try to keep him away from the violence we inevitably come by, seeing how I'm destiny's bitch, is of course to prevent him to be hurt himself. But the second one is a bit creepier : he literally has no idea that he can hurt someone else. He could literally torture someone and never even realize it. Until he does, and I don't want to find out what would happen to his mind if he ever realized it. So guilt-tripping him may possibly make me feel like shit, but it's way, way better than letting him stay completely ignorant about it.

Anyway, enough with the self-loathing and justifying myself. You want the story, don't you? Right. So, after I cursed myself for a few seconds, I decided to end it quickly and kill the deadly snake-king. It would probably have been interesting to see how his stare-killing ability worked, but it was a lot too dangerous to freely experiment on while I was in a forest. So I just stabbed it through the heart and got up, cringing at the sensation. We had no serious injuries, miraculously, but I could already feel the bruises forming. By the sky, I was going to find some sort of healing spell as soon as I could.

I started walking down the road, leaving the giant corpse behind me. Of course, that annoying bug still followed me, even though I could understand why she wouldn't want to be left alone in the forest. I had told Twilight that this place sounded like a normal forest to me, but I really didn't take the monsters into account. Shit, I clearly hoped that there weren't anymore of 'magic resilient' creatures like that.

Seeing as we would probably encounter other animals on our way to the castle, I decided to stay alone at the commands for a little while. Which, sadly, meant that I had to bear Thingy's presence.

"Wow, you really killed a basilisk all by yourself!"
"Yeah, I-"
"You totally nailed it!"

I groaned. Here it began.

"Please, don't. I promised Recto no harm would come to you, so I can't realistically threaten to collapse your trachea if you continue with these horrible, horrible puns." She grinned wildly and opened her mouth, probably to make use of the opportunity, but I beat her to the punch. "However, I can still knock you unconscious and just carry you to our destination." She closed her mouth, lightly glaring at me and staying silent.

For a whooping three minutes. Which was honestly more than I had expected.

"So what do humans do when they're bored?" she finally asked.
I sighed. "Depends who you ask, I suppose. Recto tends to make his own fun. I tend to choke annoying people to death."
"Really? What sort of games do you play?"
Is that really all she kept form my answer? "I don't really know. He finds nearly everything amazing and is distracted by pretty much anything. We saw a butterfly a few days ago and he decided to follow it around the town. For two hours. Then, he saw something shiny and started playing with the sun's reflections in windows until Twilight came by and gave me a real reason for interrupting this nonsense."
She giggled. "Sounds like a child."
"I guess it fits."
"But you've got to have hobbies too. You won't make me believe you spend all your time doing nothing."
"I don't. I spend all my time making sure Recto doesn't get hurt."
"Oh. So you're like a mom to him?" she asked with a shit-eating grin.

The darkest glare I had ever given to anyone since we had arrived in Equestria made sure to get rid of that.

"Leave your parent jokes out of the way if you value you life, changeling," I coldly warned her.
She gulped and nodded energetically. I resumed my road watching, doing my best not to pay her any attention. Of course, she continued asking questions. "You didn't answer me. What do you do for fun, mister Verso?"
I sighed. "I used to forment plans to escape from our imprisonment. Now, I experiment with magic, to find other ways to protect us and to dissuade others from attempting to attack us."
"That's not fun."
"Too bad."

She stayed mostly silent for a moment, probably just to think about other annoying questions to ask. And skies, do I hate smalltalk. It was either irrelevant for the story or about some answers I've already given to others, like what I eat and this sort of shit, so I'll just skip that part. Thankfully, we didn't encounter any other critter on our way there. I assume that the basilisk's scent that was certainly still on us was in for something about it, but it's not like I could really check this theory.

Either way, we arrived at the ruins mostly unharmed and just in time before I gave up on civility and forcefully collapsed Thingy's lungs to relieve my hears. It was thankfully still rather early in the night, so we would still have time before us to do whatever we wanted. Not so thankfully, from the very moment I had crossed the bridge that allowed us to access the castle's remnants, I immediately started to feel a now all-too-familiar headache, the same one that I usually feel whenever we're in that dreaded crystal palace.

I hate this place. Its architecture is an abomination of both physics and taste. It seriously looks like it had been made to fit the tastes of a five year old.

Back on track. I sat down and made Thingy guard the surrounding area as I deployed my city-scan spell to make sure no dangerous creature except me was around. And sure enough, I immediately picked all kinds of weird signals : from blank spaces to rooms so full with energy that it was probably dangerous to even enter them, not to mention numerous traps and hidden chambers, the castle was just like I imagined the ruins of a civilisation that relied on magic from day to day.

Of course, my three hundred and sixty degree wide scan revealed an immense cave full of pure magic a few dozen meters under the castle itself, but I wasn't feeling concerned by it just yet. I was in here for two reasons, but neither of them included the exploration of potentially deadly areas. At the very least, I knew where I would have to forbid Recto from going when he would roam free in this place.

I took a moment to decide on my plan of action. I was here first to find about forgotten, or even better, hidden historic or personal records that would have been left here and give me informations about the maybe darker sides of Celestia's and Luna's reign. I didn't honestly expect much, but there was no way a couple of thousand-year old leaders wouldn't have a bunch of skeletons in their closets.

My secondary goal was to find out more about Luna's corruption into Nightmare Moon. Some comments that Twilight and Luna said about the shadow of the things lurking behind the Door had picked up my curiosity. As horrifying as the thought was, they were both obviously at least partly familiar with them. Plus, the entire place simply reeked of the paranoid feelings they tend to leave where they manifest. The correlation between what little I knew about Luna's corruption and this feeling was more than enough to confirm there was at least a little link, as I suspected. Exploring this place and discovering more about this whole affair may help me find a way to deal with them for good, and save us both from the Kay and the Whispers.

I quickly found out a few places within the ruins that looked like they could maybe be a bit more personal to our dear pony overlords. They were all either trapped or hidden, which could only be indicators that they held precious informations. I mused that Recto would probably love them.

Speaking of Recto, it was high time that I let him wake up. So, when I stood up, decided, I went and forced him awake again.

I joined back the conscient world in front of a set of huge wooden doors, with Lyra talking about something I didn't quite catch. Verso was still in control, though, and I felt that he wanted it to stay that way for a little while. I figured he would spend it looking for boring books like maths or something. Way to waste someone's time. At least, the scenery was beautiful, if somewhat creepy. Beyond the door, I could see black spiders with blue stars on their back moving around, as well quite a lot of cobwebs in the upper corners. But the floor and walls seemed to be mostly clean, so that's nice.

Welcome back to the world of the living, Recto. Slept well?
Yeah! So, I guess we arrived, huh? The castle looks a bit freaky. I wonder if there are ghosts in here...
Who knows... he ominously answered. Anyway, I'd like to start by looking for the books I brought us here for in the first place. You'll have plenty of time to explore later, I just want to get it over with. Is that okay with you?
I mentally nodded, still inspecting what little we saw through our eyes. Is that going to take long?
Shouldn't. I'll just give them a good look and read them by memory later. I'd say I'll need an hour top.
Perfect! Then, Lyra and I will be able to play around!
If that's what you want to do, yes. He glanced at Lyra and entered the castle. "Here we go, changeling. Watch where you walk, I sensed a few annoying traps around the place."
"Traps?"
It sound super-fun! You know where they are?
I'll guide you to the less dangerous ones if you want. Now, first stop : the old royal library.

He walked us right into a big room that looked so, so much bigger than miss Twilight's own library. I would have stopped and gazed at the sheer amount of old tomes that rested on the old shelves, but Verso immediately went to scan the titles. Of course, it took him only a few seconds to realize that none of them had their title printed on the side, and he hissed in frustration as he levitated a few of them in front of us to screen the front cover. He opened a few of them that the title indicated to be magic related, and closed them nearly immediately, frustrated when he saw all the complicated words inside. He kept most tomes that talked about history, which was nice, and more than a few about legends and old tales, which was definitely nice.

He wandered around the library, looking for books that interested him, for a solid twenty minutes. When he was finished, he simply looked quickly at every page of the dusty books and put them back where he found them. When this was over, he moved a random chair and a portion of a wall moved out of the way, granting us access to a hidden room that was filled with bookcases and a few cushions. Strangely enough, in the very middle of this hidden room was an empty pedestal that looked like it had been occupied until recently.

Well, it was empty. Not much we can do about it. Still, Verso looked around for other books while Lyra was just gaping and asking questions that Verso didn't even listen to. It took Verso a few minutes to find books he deemed interesting and pry through their pages. After he had put the books back to their places, he kept looking around for a handful of minutes before he hissed in frustration and decided to leave this place behind. We exited the library and headed toward another place within the old castle.

Next, we entered a room with a rather light color scheme and the remnants of what had certainly been a huge bed. There Verso stumbled upon a few other interesting books, but looked around as if he was searching for something in particular again. A big book on another pedestal somehow didn't interest him at all, but Lyra surely was.

"Hey, what's this one?" she asked, her horn lighting up.
"Which... Don't-!" Verso exclaimed when he realized that Lyra was about to grab the large tome.

Sadly, it was to late and Lyra removed it from its pedestal. Immediately, something clicked and the door closed itself. We heard something buzz and the walls started to lightly shine. Verso glared at Lyra, who blushed and looked sheepishly back at him.

"It's a trap," she said matter-of-factly.
"Thanks, Sherlock," Verso replied, annoyed. "But I suppose I should have told you not to touch the big book that had 'My Little Diary' written on the cover and laid in plain sight of anyone that enters the room. I mean, it sure doesn't look like it's a bait or anything."
"Hey, I couldn't read the title from where I am. The damn thing was too high, as if this room had been made for a giant pony or something."
"Oh, it probably was. We're obviously in Celestia's old bedroom."
Lyra blinked. "We're where now?"
"This is probably Princess Celestia's old room from before whatever forced her to leave this place to the Everfree forest. I wonder what event could possibly force them to leave in such a hurry that they left the books behind and never came back..."
"I'm holding Princess Celestia's diary?!"
"No, it's obviously a fake one," he said as he levitated the book to us.

He opened it to a random page and ended on a nearly blank page that read: 'Luna, I told you to stop reading my diary. Have fun escaping this place. If you break anything, I'm going to be really, really angry.' Verso shrugged and threw the mostly useless book on the bed to inspect the door.

"Hey, Thingy, try opening the door."
"What? Why me?"
"Because you trapped us in here, so you get the magical jolt you deserve if there is some sort of more painful trap in here."
"But-"
"No 'buts'. Open the door, changeling."
Hehe, you said-
Please, don't.

Lyra grumbled something that didn't sound nice at all and tried to push the door open with her hoof, meeting little success. She didn't meet more success when she tried to use magic on it, but at least she wasn't hurt in the doing. When she proved to be unable to do anything, Verso tried too and failed in the same way. He sighed and deployed his sense field, feeling the spell that was keeping us imprisoned.

"Looks like some sort of force field. I'll try to break that quickly. There are some components that I don't understand perfectly though... I think we may have sent Celestia a warning message that we broke into her room or something."
"We WHAT?!"

Verso of course didn't reply and put a hand against the wall. The same yellow tendrils he usually uses to destroy shields spread rapidly across the wall and vibrated. Two seconds the later, we heard some sort of glassy noise breaking and the shield disappeared.

And the wall fell down with it.

Verso blinked while Lyra mostly stayed motionless, her jaw hanging low.

"Huh. Well, that's done. Good thing that it wasn't a loadbearing wall or anything. That would have been embarrassing." He shrugged, as if it wasn't a problem at all. "Well then, let's go. I have one last room to check before I let Recto free in here."
"You... You destroyed Princess Celestia's bedroom's wall..."
"Sure did. Are you coming with me or should I let you wait here all alone?"

Her ears shot down and Lyra suddenly looked a bit scared. She gulped and trotted after us, quickly reaching us. A few minutes later, we arrived in front of a set of black doors, at the end of dark blue and silver corridor. Verso pushed them open without hesitation and let ourselves inside another bedroom, that respected the same color scheme as the corridor did. A few paintings here and there had been mostly eaten up by time and neglect, but some tapestries were still mostly intact and displayed constellations in the night sky. A part of the ceiling collapsed and crushed a wooden table or something underneath. Thankfully, there was still a bookcase filled to the brim next to another door on the other side of the room.

When he saw the door, Verso narrowed our eyes, mildly surprised. He casted his sense field again and narrowed our eyes further. He cautiously walked up to the bookcase and glanced a the covers. He opened a few ones and started feeling more confused each time. That was weird. He decided to levitate them all out of the bookcase and opened them all, getting confused and worried at the same time.

"What the fuck does it mean? I can't read any of them!"
That's a bother.
"Really? They seem pretty normal to me," Lyra noted. "Well, they're all horn-written, but it's pretty lisible."
"What are they talking about?"
Lyra squinted her eyes. "I... I think some of them are about some kind of magic, but that's pretty high level and I can't really understand it all. Others are about constellations and their... creations? There's also a bunch of them that are talking about dreams and dream walking... Verso, where are we again?"
"I think it's pretty obvious that we're currently in Luna's old personal room."
"W-What?" Lyra crawled back. "We shouldn't be here!"
"No, we shouldn't be allowed to be here," Verso said, dropping the books and turning to the door. "That shouldn't be here. I can't pick it or anything behind it with my sense field."
That's weird, because I'm pretty sure it is in front of us. Are you sure your field isn't being jammed again?
That could be a possibility. That or someone really doesn't want it to be found.
"What are you talking about? There only a wall there!" Thingy said.
She can't see the door? That's weird.
"No deformation of the light spectrum nor any trace of magic that I can feel. It's almost as if it wouldn't exist if we couldn't see it."

Verso walked up to it and inspected it from a closer viewpoint. It really looked like a normal door to me. A nice, black, perfectly conserved thousand year-old wooden door. Nothing suspicious about it. Nope, not a thing. Verso concentrated, getting ready to face anything that would come at us, and grabbed the handle. It was unusually cold. Verso continued nonetheless and brought the handle down.

I'm not really about what happened next. Heck, neither of us really are. The last thing I remember is that the door opened itself faster than we could anticipate and powerfully collided with our head, near instantly knocking us out.

I don't really like doors anymore.

When I opened the door and it hit me in the fucking face, our body shut down. I was sent back to the horrid antechamber, the lightning storm outside slowly picking up in power since Discord intervention a while ago. At this rate, it wouldn't have been too long before the other bastard would start talking again. More importantly at the moment, though, I couldn't force myself awake.

I've been knocked out quite a few time while we were younger, on Earth, but I could always wake up near instantly after that, even though it usually came with a hellish headache. But I had absolutely no idea about what was going on in the conscious world. As far as I knew, some sort of monster could have crawled out of the door and start devouring Thingy while I was out here sleeping. Of course, it's not like I really cared about that part, but it could also attack me, and that was a big nono in my book.

I went up next to the bed while I was doing my best to do a full-body checkup and figure out what was going wrong. Recto looked like he was fine, if also unconscious himself. I don't really know what to do, having never been unable to wake myself up before. Maybe Luna put up some sort of forced-sleep spell on the door to ward-off intruders? Either way, I had no actual way of doing anything, so I just waited, worried and actually a bit scared.

Roughly ten minutes later, I felt my connection to our body strengthen enough to wake up again. Of course, I immediately did and was assaulted by one heck of a headache, as always. I couldn't talk just yet, but my connection to the rest of my body was slowly powering up, so I knew it would only have been a problem for a handful of seconds.

"Oh, Hive, please wake up!" I heard Thingy plead. "You can't die on me, guy. I'd get in so many trouble..."
Well it's always nice to know someone cares about me... I mentally groaned, rolling my eyes.

I regained control of the rest of my body and immediately coughed by reflex. Problem was, something was right above me, so I headbutted it in the process, making my already unwanted headache all the more insufferable. And I quickly knew what stupid thing I had just hit too.

"Ouch!" Thingy cried. "He headbutted me? Can human corpses headbutt people?"
"Sky, you're stupid..." I groaned, pressing my hands over my head. It felt like my brain was bouncing around inside a crushed-glass-covered case. Not exactly a nice feeling.
"You're alive!" she cried out, jumping over me to strangle me with her forelegs.

She was doing a bit of a crappy job at it, by the way, only encasing my shoulders and torso and leaving my head and neck free as if... Oh. I guess she was just hugging me then. Well, picture me apologetic, because I didn't really realize it back then. My head was killing me and I was probably a bit oxygen deprived at the time, so I wasn't exactly thinking straight. Either way, I pushed her away from me and rolled away from her. I quickly sat up, my balance still a bit off, but I could at least see correctly the threat.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" I growled, flinching at the painful sensation of talking.
"Well, I'm so relieved to know that you're alright... That door thing attacked you and you weren't moving anymore! I was so worried! Are you alright?" she asked as she was getting closer to me.
"Stay the fuck away from me!" I roared, immediately regretting this poor life decision when my brain felt like it would explode. At least, she stayed away, so that's that. "Oh, fucking hell, my head..." I groaned again, pressing the bump that was already forming.

A quick look around informed me that we were still in the same room. The door itself had disappeared, revealing a small alcove with a book on a pedestal inside. I remembered that Thingy couldn't see the door earlier, so I glanced at her and pointed out the alcove.

"You see that?" I asked.
"Yes. It appeared when a door materialised out of nowhere and hit you on the head."
"Okay. Tell me what happened while I was out of commission."
She nodded. "Well, first the door appeared ad hit you. Then, it turned into some sort of dark scary smoke and it... sipped into you, I think. I was trying to wake you up when you headbutted me. And now that I think about it, you didn't even excuse yourself!"
"How long?"
"Huh?
"How long was I out?"
"I don't know. A minute or two, maybe?"

I gritted my teeth. Either I had lost conscience of time while I was out or the 'scary smoke' as she called it was not smoke at all. I closed my eyes for a second and went back into the anteroom. There, I inspected the chains and the Door to check for damage, but it was completely fine. I could only guess that whatever that thing was wasn't powerful enough to get inside and escape. Either way, I was fine for now.

I opened my eyes again and stood up. "Well, I'm fine now. Let's what this book is."
"Are you crazy?" Thingy gasped.
Pretty much, I thought immediately, smiling a little.
"That thing just attacked you! It could still be dangerous."
"And I survived its attack. I don't think I was supposed to, so placing anymore traps would be pointless."

I levitated the book to me and discovered that it was a lot heavier than it had any right to be. A quick scan through my sense field revealed that it was lightly enchanted. Which of course meant that I turned it Thingy's way when I opened it, just in case. When nothing happened, I turned it back to me. The first pages had a childish writing all over them and talked about stupid things, like what the author had for lunch, described with childish comments. It was signed 'Lulu', which further confirmed my impression that I had Luna's thousand year-old diary in my hands. I tried flipping through the pages, only to discover the effect of the enchantment I felt earlier : the damn book had a lot more page than it should, encompassing probably the equivalent of a dozen or so large tomes at least.

I quickly went to its last page and it confirmed my doubts : the last entry was dated from roughly a thousand years ago, when Luna turned into Nightmare Moon to be the sole ruler or Equestria. It simply read "Today is the day. Soon, Celestia will pay for her errors." If that isn't ominous, I don't know what is.

Anyway, it was a lot too voluminous for me to just quickly look at and memorize. And my head was giving me too much of a hard time to stay concentrated enough to not miss details anyway. It was going to last too, so I couldn't just take the book and let Recto roam free. I glanced at Thingy. The changeling. That could turn into a griffon.

"Hey, you think you could carry me back to Ponyville?"
"Why? Do you have trouble walking?"
"No, but my head is hella painful, and I might just faint any moment, so I think getting back there quickly would be a good idea."
"Huh... Well, get on my back. I'll see whether or not I can carry you in the first place."
"I was thinking that you should turn into something that could fly. That would be faster."
She blushed and was suddenly wrapped in green fire. A second later, her horn had disappeared and a pair of wings now popped from her sides. "Well then, come on."

I shrugged and carefully sat on her back, making sure not to hurt her. Long story short, she could carry me. Even better, she could fly with me on her back. So off we went, toward our small home-village, and I made sure to bring Luna's diary back with me. I just knew that it could be useful. We made it there rather quickly, even though I had to point her in the correct direction a few times. Seems like flying over the forest confuses the hell out of ponies and changelings alike. Thankfully, I was either immune or not cartoony enough to be concerned.

She quietly landed on the edge on the forest and changed back to her more usual form. I simply groaned and decided that the first thing I'd ask Twilight in the morning was a magical way of getting rid of headaches. I grabbed the book and started to walk toward the gleaming castle. I estimated that it was around one or two in the morning. A bit earlier than what I first planned, but at least I had found a most things that I went there for. Too bad that this strange door gave me a concussion.

I realized a bit late that I was still being followed by a silent Thingy. "What are you doing?"
"Following you." I glared at her and she put on a sheepish grin. "I don't know what you're up to, but I'm sure it will be fun!"
"... In what regard was anything that happened tonight 'fun'? You seemed pretty traumatized by half of what I've done."
She shrugged. "It was pretty violent or cruel by pony standards, but it's not everyday we get the adrenaline rush of fearing for your life. It's kinda fun."
"... You have problems. And that's coming from a guy who's used to do cruel things on a regular basis." She shrugged again, not replying. "Anyway, I'm heading to bed right now, so get lost or something."
"Oh..." She seemed a bit disappointed. "Well then, good night Verso."
"That's not the sound of you getting away from me."

She flashed me a smile and happily trotted away. I don't think I will ever understand that bug. For my part, I just sighed, massaged my head and walked back to the crystal palace. I deployed another sense field to make sure that nobody was awake inside this thing and quietly walked up to my room. Of course, since the universe seems to enjoy torturing me just anyway possible, the usual headache this place gave me joined forces with my concussion-based one and nearly threw me off-balance. I placed Luna's diary inside our wardrobe and immediately went to sleep. I have rarely been so thankful to reach a bed and just fall unconscious onto it.

I was immediately relieved of both headaches once I arrived in the anteroom. That was nice. What wasn't half as nice, though, was nearly inaudible voice I heard the instant I arrived there.

"Don't think I'll ever let you have a moment of rest, traitor," Kay said through the Door. "Your alliance with Father won't help you for long."

I gulped down. I decided to do my best to just ignore him as much as I could. It wouldn't be overly difficult, since he wasn't really being loud yet. Instead, I walked into the memory room and started to read the books I had memorized. Most of them were just re-hashing some history I already knew, only in more details since they were more contemporary.

But some of them spoke about events that had been forgotten to history, like previous encounters with changeling hives. Oddly enough, it seemed like one queen was already named Chrysalis back then. That could mean that she was either immortal, which could be a real pain in the ass, or that she was named after that other queen. Most of the time, the changeling problem was ended by having the royal guard, Luna or Celestia go over there and defeat the queen. The Chrysalis this book spoke about managed to escape before she was in too much danger, though.

I spent the whole night reviewing these books and comparing them to more recent history books. Kay thankfully stayed silent most of the time, indicating that it was still pretty hard for him to talk at all. On the most part, it had been a nice night.

I woke up and stretched when the sun started to shine right in our face. Our head felt a bit strange, making me feel dizzy, but nothing major. When I looked around, I realized that we were back into our room in miss Twilight's castle. I blinked a few times, still feeling a bit sleepy, and therefore, confused.

"When did we come back here?" I mumbled while I was trying to control a yawn. "I was sure we went to sleep in the castle in the forest..." I gasped, getting a bit more awake. "Maybe it was all just a dream! In fact, we never even went in the forest in the first place! Whoa, I'm having pretty amazing dreams recently."
No, you didn't dream. Verso's voice said. We've been knocked out by the door. I woke myself up long enough to get Ly-... the changeling to bring us back.
"Aw... I wanted to explore!"
I know. I'm sorry, but I was already having trouble staying conscious, so I decided it would be a better idea to come back.

I pouted a moment before I got up and exited our room to get to the kitchen. Neither Twilight nor Spike seemed to be around, strangely enough. They're usually awake a lot earlier than we are. I don't usually wake up early on my own, after all. Lazy-mornings are best mornings.

"Hey, Verso, you know what time it is?"
Ten twenty-seven, judging by the clock right next to us.
I blinked a few times, looking at the clock in question. "Huh. I wonder why they let us sleep so late. Miss Twilight usually wakes us up earlier."
We'll have to ask her when we see her.

I absent-mindedly nodded and grabbed something quick to eat, as well as what miss Twilight kindly bought us to make our very own chocolate milk. No, I'm not addicted. I can stop whenever I want, I just really don't want to. I headed to the dining room, making everything float lazily behind us. I reached the table, sat, and set everything in front of me.

"Good morning to you, Recto," miss Princess Celestia said.
"Mornin'" I replied.

I blinked. Verso blinked. Then I looked up hastily to find miss Princess Celestia on the other end of the table, casually sipping a cup of tea. Next to her, miss Twilight was sitting too, with a cup of the same awful drink in front of her. She didn't looked overly pleased at all. She was glaring at us intensely and looked like she really wanted to say something, but kept her silence instead for some reason. On the other hand, miss Princess Celestia seemed to fairly enjoy being here. She was smiling as warmly as she usually does.

"Uh..."
"Something unusual happened to me this morning," miss Princess Celestia said. "When I woke up to raise the sun, I found out that an old letter had fell on me during my sleep. One that I had visibly written to myself more than a thousand year ago to warn me about unwanted intruders in my private room in my old castle. Isn't that surprising?"
Uh.
"Well, yeah. I mean, it's not everyday that you receive thousand-year-old mail, is it?"
Miss Twilight's eyes narrowed and she opened her mouth to say something, but miss Princess Celestia continued: "Indeed. I quickly remembered that spell that sent me the letter was also supposed to trap said intruder inside my room with a powerful shield. I thought somepony got accidentally imprisoned at some point during the night and immediately went to free him or her."
"That's pretty nice of you."
"Simple matter of urgency. I was quite worried for the poor soul that activated the trap and had to spent the night in a room in ruins. But wasn't I surprised to find that not only had the intruder escaped already, but in doing so had also destroyed a wall and weakened the whole structure of the castle. I'm honestly surprised that it hasn't collapsed yet."
"Aren't ruins supposed to collapse?" I mused aloud. "That's why they're ruins, isn't it?"
"Will you-!" Miss Twilight started to say something, but miss Princess Celestia quieted her by raising a wing to hide her.
"Indeed they are, Recto. But some places in this castle have been enchanted to last through the ages without decaying as much. This castle is filled with old traps and spells that have yet to be disarmed, even though Princess Twilight and her friends have been working toward this goal recently. So I think that you can imagine that somepony breaking into the ruins, destroying one spell that kept part of the castle standing as well as an entire wall is something of a problem. Even more problematic, I think this intruder was there in search of something, even though I don't know either what he or she was searching for, or if he or she had found it."
I looked at miss Twilight, a bit surprised. "You've been restoring an old castle with your friends? Why didn't you tell me? I love old castles!"
"Wha-... That's not the-!"
"Twilight, please, let me handle this," miss Princess Celestia said calmly. Miss Twilight complied, her face getting a bit redder with anger. "The castle holds many artifacts that have been sealed away, Recto. I don't want to know what some ponies may want to do with them, but that is preoccupying."
"Do you mean that they could be dangerous?" Miss Princess Celestia nodded and I gasped. "We've got to find them before they do anything dangerous then!"
"Inded we do," miss Princess Celestia said before sipping her cup again. "Thankfully, I have found some clues in the dust that was raised by the fallen wall. Hoofprints. And also footprints."
"Oh, so you're going to compare every pony's footprints with the ones you found there until you find the intruder. Clever. But isn't that going to take a while?"

Miss Twilight facehoofed. Verso mindpalmed. Miss Princess Celestia kept her patient and warm smile.

"It could. But I think we could shorten the research time by searching who the footprint belongs to. Thankfully, there aren't many creatures that have this shape of walking appendages. In fact, I only know of one."
"Wow." I started applauding her. "Not even a day of research and you've already figured out who the criminal is. That's really impressive! What are you going to do now?"

Miss Twilight looked at me as if she was trying to understand if I was really serious. I don't know why. Miss Princess Celestia really went quickly with her investigation. That was some mastery-level of investigation right there. Whoever was the criminal she was talking about, he clearly had no chance whatsoever to escape.

"I think I will just confront him as soon as possible," miss Princess Celestia explained. "Conveniently, he doesn't live too far from here."
"I hope it goes well for you. Who knows what kind of people would venture into an old castle and start breaking walls for fun?" I started preparing myself a good glass of chocolate milk, thinking this part of the conversation was over. At least, until Verso joined in.
You do realize she is talking about us, right? he asked, sounding somewhat disturbed.
I stopped right in my track. "What are you talking-..." He showed me a few flashback from the earlier night in an instant. "Oh. Oh, yeah! You're right, she is talking about us," I said, nodding, in confirmation. Then, I continued making our breakfast.
"Ha!" miss Twilight exclaimed, making me flinch in surprise and nearly drop the glass of milk I had already prepared. "I knew it!"
"Recto, why did you go to the ruins last night?" miss Princess Celestia asked. "And who was the pony that came with you?"
"It was an adventure! It was really fun too. We saw a big manticore and a basilisk on our way there!"

Miss Twilight was drinking from her cup while I was explaining. When I mentioned the basilisk, she spat everything out in her own cup, covering herself in warm water. She didn't seem to mind, though.

"A basilisk?! There's a basilisk free in the Everfree Forest?"
"Not a free one, no," Verso answered, finally taking over. Miss Princess Celestia's eyes narrowed a bit. "I took care of it. And don't worry for us, we're not hurt. On a totally unrelated note, you know any spells to heal lumps on your head?"
Miss Princess Celestia's horn lit up and the strange dizzy sensation I had since we woke up disappeared. "Tell me more about it." Verso sighed and quickly told them about our encounters with the wildlife on our way to the castle. Miss Princess Celestia nodded when he was finished. "And why did you go to the castle in the first place?"
"I figured that there would be old books there. Some that would talk about events long-forgotten to the common ponies. Besides, it was an adventure of sorts and Recto enjoyed the idea."
"Why didn't you tell me you were going, then? " miss Twilight asked. "Or, hay, why did you decide to go there in the middle of the night? Surely, you could have waited until today for your expedition?"
Because I wanted it to be a secret. Blast you, Thingy... If only you hadn't been a complete moron and kept your hooves to yourself...
"That's not her name," I pointed out.
Miss Twlight blinked. "What are you talking about?"
"Verso keeps calling Lyra 'Thingy'. That's not her name."
She blinked again. "What does this has to do with anything?"
"Well, he says that-"
"Lyra came with us to the castle last night," Verso interrupted me.
Hey, that's rude!
Sorry. I answered her question by reflex.
"Oh? Why is that?" miss Princess Celestia asked.
"She saw us enter into the Everfree Forest because couldn't sleep. She decided that it could be interesting to follow us. Recto allowed her to accompany us."
"And you chose to be accompanied by her rather than asking me?!" miss Twilight asked rather loudly.
Verso gritted our teeth. "Given the choice, I'd have preferred to go there on our own. Sounds more like an adventure."
"That's... That's completely irresponsible!" miss Twilight shouted at us.
"And it's also completely untrue," miss Princess Celestia added, putting her cup down. "You wouldn't place Recto under any danger if you could prevent it, Verso, and going alone in the middle of the night is definitely more dangerous than going with Twilight during the day." Verso gritted our teeth again as she was looking at us in the eyes. "That means you were searching for something, but didn't want us to know." Verso said nothing, and I was confused. He told her about looking for books, didn't he? "What were you truly looking for in my ancient home, Verso?"

A heavy silence fell on the room, as miss Princess Celestia was waiting for him to answer. Miss Twilight's gaze was shifting between us and miss Princess Celestia, looking like she had no idea what to do. Verso took a few, long seconds to answer.

"I went in for information, nothing more. Lyra touched your false diary by accident and activated the trap. I got us free. End of the story."
But what about the strange door in Luna's room?
That's a story she doesn't need to know about.
Oh.
Miss Princess Celestia sighed. "I'm getting tired of this, Verso. What kind of information?"
"I told you. Forgotten History. I wanted to go alone because I know miss bookworm here wouldn't have let me study it in peace."
"Hey!"
Miss Princess Celestia narrowed her eyes again. "Why won't you tell me the truth, Verso?"
"For the same reason I went there without anyone that could pose a threat, Princess."
Miss Princess Celestia narrowed her eyes yet again. She then turned to face miss Twilight. "It seems I'll have to borrow your student for a little while, my dear Twilight. Recto, Verso, finish your meal and go pack a few clothes. You're going with me to Canterlot."
"Wha-"

Miss Twilight didn't have the time to finish, as miss Princess Celestia exploded in light and disappeared. Verso shrugged and hurried up. Miss Twilight tried to ask us some things, but Verso muted her out and ate at an impressive rate. He then excused ourselves from the table, levitated our dishes to the kitchen to be cleaned later and walked back to our room. He packed a bunch of our clothes inside a bag miss Twilight had given us to carry books when we studied outside. While he was busying himself in the wardrobe, I noticed a strange book that wasn't there before. Without a word of explanation, he packed the book too, hiding it between our clothes.

He got back downstairs in an affair of minutes, put our bag down and started to wait, still ignoring miss Twilight. A few moments later, miss Princess Celestia reappeared in an explosion of light, still not smiling as she usually does.

"Are you ready to go?"

Verso nodded and we exploded in light. We appeared in the throne room in Canterlot. A few guards were here, looking at us as if we were about to explode again or something. Miss Princess Celestia appeared next to us and walked to her throne while we waited where we were. When she sat, she glanced down at us and Verso gritted his teeth again, for apparently no reason.

"You have been in Equestria for nearly a month, Verso. And yet, for some reason, you still seem to be unwilling to trust either me, or anypony for that matter. Would you care to explain?"
"You would always trust a dog until he bites you. I'm not someone that waits to be bitten."
"You have no reason to be this distrustful here, Verso. Guards, leave us."
"But, your Majesty..."
"Leave us, please."

The guards quietly went out of the room, some of them glaring at us. Soon, nobody but miss Princess Celestia and us were left in the room.

"Go on, use your detection spell, Verso. We're alone." Verso did so immediately, feeling that, indeed, we were completely alone. "Now, tell me, what were you searching for in the ruins?"
Verso hesitated, but he was keeping me from hearing his thoughts so I don't know what was eating his mind. Nonetheless, he replied only a couple seconds later, keeping his poker face. "I already told you. Informations."
"You aren't going to make me believe that you really put yourself in danger just for that, Verso."
"Too bad. It's the only answer you'll get."
"You aren't in danger any..."
"Bullshit," Verso interrupted her. "You just don't know what endangers me yet. And besides, just because you are no direct threat to me now doesn't mean you won't become one tomorrow."
"I would never..."
"Just as you would never have hurt your sister a millennium ago?"
Miss Princess Celestia narrowed her eyes. "Circumstances were different, Verso. Nightmare Moon took control of her and was threatening to destroy all of Equestria in her madness. I don't see you as a threat to my ponies."
Verso snorted but didn't comment. After a few seconds of a gaze-duel, he decided to change subjects. "So... Why did you bring us here? Surely you wouldn't have told us to get prepared to stay here for a few days only to question me?"
Miss Princess Celestia narrowed her eyes again before she returned to her more usual demeanor, minus the warm smile. "I didn't, of course. Since you are a valuable guest, I wanted to make sure you would be present for the oncoming Grand Galloping Gala."
The Grand whatnow?
"You want us to be present at a party. That's why you ordered us to get prepared to stay here for some time. I... What?"
A party? I love parties! Are there going to be pastries? And games? And chocolate milk? And funny ponies? And chocolate milk? And music? And most importantly, chocolate milk?
"Of course, I know you didn't really have any way to learn how to behave in... let's say, 'higher' parts of the society, which is what the Gala is usually all about. So, during the few days you have left before the party, I have found you somepony to help you learn everything you need to know."
"I-"

Verso was interrupted by some ruckus -this word is fun- we heard was going on just outside the doors. Someone was shouting on someone else something about not needing permission to enter. The shouting guy then asked if the guy he was talking to knew who he was, which initially made me think someone had memory troubles. Then, the doors were swung open by someone and a rather big white unicorn with a blonde mane entered, several guards trying, and mostly failing, to stop him.

"Aunt Celestia!" the unicorn called. "I demand that these good-for-nothing guard be fired immediately! They attempted to stop me from entering while you called me here yourself!"

Verso blinked. Then, he glanced at miss Princess Celestia, doubtful.

"You can't be serious..."
"Recto, Verso, please meet Prince Blueblood, my dear nephew. He'll be your teacher for the next few days."

Author's Note

I'm back once again, and I bring a new chapter with me! I hope you all enjoyed reading this one. Don't expect the next one too soon, though, finals week is coming for me too.
... Knowing me, I'll probably prefer writing about cartoon ponies over studying like I should... Well then, maybe expect it sooner than it has any right to be.
Now, onto some spoilers for what's to come :
Best pony, murder and innovation.

See you all soon(ish) on Chapter 21 !

Chapter 21: Telling the Story

We were sitting on rather small chair in this tiny, badly lit room. The handcuffs holding our wrists tightly together were linked to the metallic table by a rather heavy chain, making them feel uncomfortable. In front of us, another chair, that had been empty from the moment we had been thrown in a couple minutes before, and a big mirror on the wall. Hanging from the ceiling and resting only a meter or so above the table was the only light source in the room, a rather old-looking lamp that sizzled from time to time, making me think it would stop working any moment. And of course, the only door of the room rested, locked, on the side wall.

A stereotypical interrogatory room like any other, to put it shortly. Probably should have begun with that. Would have taken much less time.

As I've said, we had been thrown in only a couple minutes ago, but with Verso still doing whatever was keeping him away, I was already bored out of my mind, without anything to do. Of course, it was the first time we were ever thrown in an interrogatory room, so at first, I was pretty excited, but then, the guardponies misters just left us alone. I got over the excitement thing after only a minute.

I decided to make faces at the mirror to keep me entertained. Verso and the Institute's peoples said I shouldn't, 'cause people our age shouldn't act like that, but I don't really care: it's funny. End of the argument.

After a solid five minutes of me making the silliest imaginable faces at our reflexion and giggling at the funniest ones, someone finally entered. It was an earth-pony wearing a nice suit, a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes and some sort of device in his ear-hole. Why he was wearing sunglasses while being inside a room is above me, but it gave him a cool look. Maybe that's why he was wearing them.

He sat down silently in front of us and laid down a thick file on the table. He browsed though a couple pages before he even looked in our direction.

"As you can see, we've had our eye on you for quite some time now, mister Verso," he finally said.
"Uh, I'm Recto right now, Verso is kind of asleep," I replied, smiling brightly. "Also, is that our 'mugshot' from earlier?" I asked, pointing our picture on the file with our chin. "It looks terrible. Can we take another one?"
"It seems that you've been living two lives," the pony continued, not giving attention to what I just said.
"Well, duh, we're two in here, of course we have," I told him, nearly giggling. Poor policeman-pony seemed pretty confused.
His eye twitched. "That isn't important, now, mister Verso-"
"Recto."
"-... What is important," he continued, glaring at us through his glasses, "is that you're implicated in an important crime, and that we need to know the truth of the story."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused. "Also, you never told me who you were, mister policeman-pony. Policepony? Is that how you say it?"
"Who I am is not relevant, wha-"
"Of course it is!" I said. "I can't keep thinking of you as 'mister policepony' all the time, now, can I? It would be repetitive and not nice to you."
He snorted in frustration. "If that makes you talking about the subject, I am Agent Smith. Now, can we-"
I snorted. "That's your name?" I said, giggling.
He looked like he was getting angry, so I quickly stopped, even though I couldn't get rid of my goofy smile just yet. "... Now that we all had a good laugh, could you please tell me why we discovered you standing next to doctor Mister Boddy's dead body, your hands covered in blood?"
I blinked. "Wait, now you're making up names, aren't you? Who would call their child 'Mister Boddy'? That's an awful name."
He barred his teeth. "Please answer the question."
"Well, he was leaking this red strawberry-juice-thingy from his temple, so I thought that I should probably try and do something. Verso wasn't there to tell me what to do, so I figured I should just, you know, put my hands on his head and try to stop the leak." I took on a grim look. "Didn't really work: you guys arrived and ordered me to step away."
"And why were you in his mansion for to begin with?" the stallion asked, now looking a bit interested. "Mister Boddy isn't known for his, well, willingness to meet non-nobles."
"That's because mister Prince Blueblood brought us there to present us to him!" I said proudly. "They were supposed to be great pals."
"His Highness Prince Blueblood took you to meet doctor Mister Boddy?" Agent Smith repeated, incredulous. "What were you doing with him in the first place?"
"He's our teacher for the Gala tomorrow!"
"... What?"
"Miss Princess Celestia made him our teacher a couple days ago so that we could learn to behave in society, because she punished Verso for being honest by forcing us to go at the party!"
He seemed surprised. And confused. Mostly confused, really. "What are you talking about? Start at the beginning. How did you meet the Prince?"
"Well..."

Two days ago

There was a moment of silence. Verso was looking at miss Princess Celestia a bit confused, but it was nothing next to mister Prince Blueblood's own stare of shock. He blinked several times and shifted his gaze between miss Princess Celestia and us a few times.

"What-" mister Prince Blueblood started.
"As my nephew, I know that you will be a good teacher to them, Blueblood," miss Princess Celestia interrupted him with a sweet smile.
"But... What are 'they' in the first place?" he asked. "There is only one of... whatever in Tartarus that thing is," he pointed out, pointing at us.
Oh, I already dislike him a lot.
But he does have a good point. I know it's always confusing for people to realize that there are actually two of us.
That's... not the problem, but forget it. Why don't you present yourself?
I did just that, taking the controls. I waved at the Prince and smiled. "Hello, mister Prince!" I said. "I'm Recto! Nice to meet you! And-"
He stared down at me, which is a pretty impressive feat since we were easily towering a couple of heads over him. "Yes, yes, hello," he interrupted me, looking back at miss Princess Celestia. "Why do you want me of all ponies to teach that creature? I'm sure some servant would be all-to-happy to do it!"
Miss Princess Celestia sighed. "I've been receiving multiple reports about your... behavior with some of our non-pony guests, Blueblood. I think this is a good way for you to... improve yourself."
She can't be seriously doing that, Verso whispered in disbelief.
He didn't let me present you! It's going to be much more complicated if he doesn't know quickly that you're here too!
"I... But..." mister Prince Blueblood said, confused.
"Besides, I'm sure they will both find your company endearing," miss Princess Celestia continued, smiling at us.
Oh dear heavens, she actually is doing that.
Doing what?
"'Both'? There's another?" mister Prince Blueblood hissed.
"That's what I was trying to tell you earlier. There's me, Recto, and then there's Verso." Say hello.
"Hello. I'm Verso," Verso said with the most empty-sounding voice ever.
Mister Prince Blueblood squinted his eyes. "Wha-"
"Recto and Verso here are what is called a 'human'," miss Princess Celestia intervened. "To put it quickly, view them as two different entities living in the same body."
"That's pretty much it," I confirmed, nodding.

Mister Prince Blueblood's stare was shifting between us, looking confused again. After a few seconds of silence, he blinked and took back a severe expression.

"Very well, Aunt Celestia. I will teach him... them how to behave correctly at the Gala, though it's still a mystery to me why you would let him enter it if he needs such... education."
"Thank you for you help, Blueblood. Now, I have yet to address a couple more matters with my guests, so it would be kind of you to wait for them outside. They shall follow you there shortly."

Mister Prince Blueblood nodded, knelt before miss Princess Celestia and walked outside, holding his nose high, which made me giggle. It simply looked silly. When he got outside and the doors were closed, Verso hijacked our body abruptly and immediately glared at miss Princess Celestia.

"No."
"It wasn't a question, Verso," she answered matter-of-factly. "Unless you want us to continue our previous conversation by answering my questions, you will spend the next days learning from Blueblood." Verso hissed at that but didn't answer, letting the Pristine Pony Princess continue. "And of course, I'm expecting that no harm whatsoever would come to my nephew while you're listening to his teachings," she said, losing her smile and locking eyes with us. "I could get quite... angry at the perpetrator if anything did happen to my dear nephew, am I clear?"
"Crystal."
"Good. Now, shoo!" she said, waving a hoof in the direction of the door. "Get to bonding with your new teacher. I'm a busy princess."
Verso glared at her one last time before he grabbed our bag, turned around and walked to the door. "Probably has some cakes to eat or something..." he muttered between our teeth.
"I heard that!" miss Princess Celestia called as we opened the door.

Verso simply grunted and exited the Throne room, arriving before the small regiment of guards that miss Princess Celestia had forced to leave earlier. Most of them simply glanced at us before they entered the room and went back to their position immediately. Mister Prince Blueblood was waiting for us, still holding his nose high as if cupcakes angels were flying above his head. He looked down on us when he noticed that we were outside. An impressive feat, considering how much taller than him we were.

"I see you have finally decided not to keep me waiting, human. Let that be a first lesson for you: do not, under any circumstances, make a noble wait more than necessary." I heard Verso growling in our mind. Mister Prince Blueblood turned around and walked down the corridor, still keeping his head high. "Now, follow me, I have matters to tend before the Gala."

I complied, happy to follow our new teacher, who looked very different from every other professors we had before. I glanced at his flank to look at his cutiemark: a simple star-shaped wind rose. I pondered silently at its signification for a few minutes. I had learned during our very first day on Equestria that cutiemarks, ponies' names and appearances were frequently related, but nothing came to me, so I resorted to the simple option when in doubt:

"Mister Prince Blueblood?" I asked.
"It's 'your Highness' Prince Blueblood, human," he corrected me. "But I'll forgive that error this time. What do you want?"
Verso growled again. "I was curious about the signification of your cutiemark. Why is it a wind rose?"
He glanced at us, slightly surprised. "I am surprised you know about this term. Most ponies refer to it as a compass. I suppose you may not be as simple-minded as you look with that goofy smile on your face."
"... Thanks?" I tried, not really sure about how to react to his strange praise. Verso simply growled more. I was starting to get the feeling that he really didn't like mister Prince Blueblood.
"You're welcome. And to answer your question, my mark shows that I am destined to lead our nation where it should go. I can simply know the way Equestria needs to take. And as an Equestrian Unicorn Prince, I have the power needed to follow such a way."
Verso growled again. I nodded. "So you're like a GPS or something, right?"
He stopped walking and looked at us, confused. "Pardon me?"
"You're excused, though I have no idea what you did." Verso mind-palmed and snorted. "Also, since you said you have a built-in mapping system, can you get us to our room?" I indicated the bags I was carrying. "They're rather heavy and I'd like to drop them in our room."

Mister 'Your Highness' Prince Blueblood stopped walking and looked at me with his mouth hanging open, his eyes staring at an unseen illogical absurdity. I stopped too and, after a few awkward silent seconds had passed, I waved a hand in front of his eyes.

"Hello? Are you okay, mister Your Highness?"
Hearing me again seemed to reconnect him to reality, as his eyes focused again, homing on ours. He slapped our hand away from his face, infuriated. "Do NOT treat me as a domestic, human!" he shouted, making me step back. "You cannot order me around!"
"Wh- But I didn't give you any-"
"The nerve you have to simply insinuate..."

If Verso had been toying with some sort of stick while mister Your Highness Prince Blueblood and I were talking, it would have snapped right there and then. He took control and levitated our bag off our shoulders and onto the ground. He also glared a mighty storm at mister Your High- oh, this name is just so long to say, I'll get over the 'Highness' part- Prince Blueblood.

"You will shut your trap immediately, you poor excuse of an aristocrat," he growled, slowly letting his voice grow louder, "or you better believe that no amount of threat from you 'oh-so-perfect' solar princess will stop me from ripping your obviously over-used tongue from your mouth and shove it so far up your rectum that it will finally get in contact with your seemingly lonely brain for the first time in your pathetic life!"

"He seriously told that to his Highness Prince Blueblood?" officer Agent Smith asked, interrupting me in my story.
"Yes. I don't really know if he was serious, because that sounded kind of messy, but then again, he was angry."
"Oh, boy, I'd have paid to see that's prick's face..." he whispered, doing his best to hide a smile. He cleared his throat. "But I'm sorry to interrupt you, please continue."
"Well, as you can guess, mister Prince Blueblood was pretty shocked..."

The Prince stopped talking and blinked. I mentally blinked. The mare down the alley stopped walking and blinked. A couple of guard-ponies looked at us and blinked. Verso didn't. Instead, he cleared our throat, grabbed our bags again and walked up to the nearly petrified mare, leaving mister Prince Blueblood behind.

"Excuse me, would you happen to know where my room is, by any chance?" he calmly asked, doing his best to get a nice smile on our face.

That wasn't working. Verso is terrible with nice smiles. And terrible is putting it nicely. Nevertheless, the poor mare managed to mutter something that sounded like 'Same as before'. Verso nodded and started to walk in the right direction, which coincidentally made us walk back in front of the throne room's doors again.

That's when mister Prince Blueblood caught back to us. He looked funny, with his face all red and scrunched up. He also apparently forgot that he was supposed to use an inside voice.

"Who in Tartarus do you think you are?!" he screamed. "You just threatened me!"
"Yes, I did," Verso replied without even stopping to have a chat. "And I'll do it again if you keep talking to Recto with that tone. And if you keep on doing it after a chosen number of warnings, well... Let's just say that the maids would have a really bad day cleaning what little I'd have left of you on the floor."
Mister Prince Blueblood somehow managed to get his face even redder and scrunchy-er, then he turned to the guards on each side of the door. "You two! Seize him! He is threatening my royal person!"

Verso stopped walking. The guards glanced at each other, before they staring back at mister Prince Blueblood for a handful of seconds. Then, they slowly turned their heads in our direction. Verso glared at them. Meanly. The two guardponies gave each other another look before turning back to mister Prince Blueblood.

"I didn't hear anything ressembling a threat, your Highness," one of them declared. "The human seemed to have stayed pretty polite and humble."

Verso raised an eyebrow in surprise. Mister Prince Blueblood turned so red and scrunchy I'd have sweared he was about to turn into a tomato.

"You dare to defy a direct ordery from royalty?! I'll have your gallons, soldier!" he shouted. "But fine! If you two cowards aren't going to do your duty, I will!"

To accentuate his words, his horn lit up with magic. Verso immediately did the same and emitted a sense field. Mister Prince Blueblood seemed awfully surprised to see the magical light surrounding our hands.

"How can... Only unicorns and the Princesses are able to... Nevermind, it doesn't matter! I've been Canterlot's highlight duelist three years in a row, so none of your pathetic little tricks will be able to protect you, human!"
"Funny you would say that, your Highness, I was just thinking the same."
Hum, Verso? Maybe you should calm down a bit...
Hey, he's the one attacking me. It's only self-defense.
Maybe, but miss Princess...

I didn't have the time to finish that thought before the doors flew open and miss Princess Celestia caught both mister Prince Blueblood and us in her own telekinesis. She didn't look happy. At all.

"I leave you three alone for just five little minutes and I can already hear you fight just in front of my door. I must say, I am disappointed, but sadly not that surprised."
"Hey! He started!"
"You liar! You started threatening and insulting me!"
"Both of you foals will stop arguing that instant!" miss Pristine Pony Princess said with a scary voice. Verso and mister Prince Blueblood both obeyed. She kept glaring at both of them before she finally sighed and looked kindly at my eye. "Recto, could you please tell me what happened?"
I got to the front, all too happy to answer her demand, but mister Prince Blueblood's offended voice beat me to it. "Why would you hear him first?"
"Because unlike you and Verso, he wasn't fighting."
"But..."

Miss Princess Celestia silenced him with a look before she made a sign for me to start talking.

"Well, mister His Higness Prince Blueblood had just finished telling me that he had a cutiemark in knowing which way to go so I asked him to guide us to our room so that we could leave our bag there instead of carrying it around all the time but he got angry for some reason and started shouting so Verso intervened and told a bunch of mean things to him before asking some mare about our room's positon and walking back to it but then mister His Highness Prince Blueblood shouted on us while he looked like a tomato and he told the guardponies to catch us but Verso got his mean look on and the guards told mister His Highness Prince Blueblood that they were partially deaf which is really bad and they should probably see a doctor pony about that but then mister His Higness Prince Blueblood said he would have their boats and lit up his magic and Verso did too and they said a bunch of things again and you arrived and * GAAAASSSP for air * that's about it, miss Princess Celestia."

Miss Princess Celestia blinked. Mister Prince Blueblood blinked. The guardponies blinked. Verso mindpalmed. Then, slowly, she turned her head to look at the guards, who were trying to make themselves as little as possible.

"One of you has earing problems?"
The guard that said that he didn't hear Verso's words cleared his throat. "Well, no, your Highness. But we didn't want to..."
"And Prince Blueblood said he would take your... boats?"
"I said no such thing! These poor excuses for soldiers couldn't even afford one! This human guest of yours is lying!"
"If I may," Verso intervened, rubbing the bridge of our nose, "I think Recto mistook the word 'gallon' for 'gallion'. It happens."
Huh? What's a 'gallon' then?
To put it shortly, military ranking.
Oh. That makes sense.
"So, if I understood correctly, you got in a fight because Prince Blueblood got angry when you asked him direction, and because of Verso's usual over-reaction?" I nodded, she sighed. "What am I going to do with you two..."
"You can't..!" Mister Prince Blueblood tried to say something, but his lips suddenly turned into a zip and closed themselves. That was weird.
"I'm going to give you two one last chance to interact like proper sentient beings," Miss Princess Celestia said. "But I'll have you both know that if I hear you either started to fight again or decided to ignore each other, you'll both be punished, Blueblood and Verso. Am I clear?"
"Pff. You have no proper way to punish me, Celestia," Verso said, smiling smugly.
"I'd say an entire week dedicated to help the maids would do both of you quite a good experience, don't you think?" Verso stopped smiling. Mister Prince Blueblood started sweating. Miss Princess Celestia smiled. "Very well. I'll leave you three to it then. Have a good day."

Without any further explanations, she let us fall back to our feets and walked back inside the throne room while mister Prince Blueblood's mouth turned back to normal. We stayed silent for a while. Then, Verso grabbed our bag again and turned to look at the prince.

"Well, Prince? Shall we go?"

***

"Things got easier after that. Mister Prince Blueblood spent the whole day talking to us about how we should talk to nobility, boring stuff like that. Honestly, I didn't even listen to most of it. I'd have died of boredom!"
"Honestly, mister Verso-"
"Recto. I'm Recto."
"... Mister Recto, I don't see how that gets us anywhere near your presence in Mister Boddy's home."
"Oh, that didn't happen until later. We followed mister Prince Blueblood's lessons during a couple days. It was hellishly boring, I'll pass you the details. Basically, we studied, ate dinner with miss Princess Celestia and Luna, who simply refused to talk to Verso unless he told her why he decided to go alone in the old castle, even though he answered a couple of times already. Then, we went to bed and woke up, to start all over again. It was sooo boring that we woke up tired because of it. Isn't that strange?"
"And what about today?" Agent Smith asked.
"Well..."

***

I yawned again, nearly dropping the pastry I was about to eat. I really didn't understand why I was so tired. We went to bed early the two nights before and still, I felt horribly tired. Maybe we were sick? We never got much worse than a cold back in the Institue, but I had read about being sick in books. They were supposed to make you feel tired. I grew kinda envious of Verso who told me he was going to sleep a bit more right after we woke up, preventing me from doing the same.

"Are you feeling okay, Recto?" Luna asked. "You are usually more 'springy' on mornings. Today, I don't think your said anything out of the basic good-manners."
"We're fine, it's just that I think mister His Highness Prince Blueblood's lessons are boring enough to suck my energy dry."
"Is that so?" She said, sipping her cup of tea again. "Well you just have to ask Verso to spill the beans about his true intentions in our old castle to make it stop, you know?"
I sighed. She had been pretty fixated on that, as I said. "I don't understand what you want him to say. We really just went there for the adventure and to read some old books."

She gave me a disapointed look but didn't add anything. We stayed silent for a few more intants before miss Princess Celestia asked:

"Do you know what my nephew has prepared for you today?" As I shook our head to answer, she continued. "I heard he was going to lunch with one of his friends and was taking you with him."
Luna threw her a dubious glance. "That's... Unexpectedly nice of him."
"Indeed it is. Have you gotten closer to Blueblood than I expected, Recto?"
"Of course I have!" I answered, pumping our chest full with pride. Luna snorted. "As boring as mister Prince Blueblood's lessons are, I'm pretty sure we could nearly call each other friends!"
"Is that so?" Luna asked slowly, raising an eyebrow.
"Huh huh," I confirmed with a nod.

We finished eating shortly after and I got back to our room to prepare for the day. Once I was finished there, I walked to where we were to meet mister Prince Blueblood. Which, coincidentally, happened to be just in front of his room. I tried to get him to meet us in front of our room, but he scoffed in our face and went on for a solid twenty minutes on why it was, and I quote, 'outrageous that I would dare to ask nobility to disturb itself because of a commoner's laziness'.

Anyway, since Verso had told me to wake him up only when we would see the prince, I started to wait, as mister Blueblood had instructed us. About half an hour later, I was getting tired of making faces at a statue when I heard mister Prince Blueblood behind us.

"What in Celestia's name are you doing?"
"Ah! You're finally here!" I said, turning to face him. "Just a moment, please..." Verso! Verso, wake up! Mister Blueblood is out!
I only had to wait an instant before his groggy voice replied. Already? Damn, I thought he would take longer than that...
Well, he didn't.
I focused back on the real world and smiled at the grumpy-faced prince. "Good morning, mis- err, your Highness. Did you sleep well?"
He snorted. "It seems you've at least remembered the basics, human. Well, let's not waste more time, I have an appointment scheduled this morning, and I have no choice but to bring you along. So, come."
"Yes, mister your Highness!" I said, excited.

I followed him out of the castle to a fairly nearby huge house, Verso grumbling all the way, saying that I could have let him sleep through that. When we arrived, mister Prince Blueblood knocked a couple times on the door and waited. A few seconds later, it openned on what I could only assume was a butler pony with an impressive mustache. He quickly glanced in our direction before resting his stare on Prince Blueblood.

"The Count didn't warn me that you were coming, your Highness. Please, excuse me for the delay in my response."
A delay? We barely waited!
"You're excused, butler. Now stop blocking the way and let us in, already."
"Are you bringing your... guest in as well, your Highness?" The butler asked, once again sparing an inquisitive glance in our direction.
"Yes, I am," mister Prince said coldly.

The butler nodded, eyed us again and went in. Mister the prince entered too, so I followed them, closing the door behind us. Butler-pony guided us to a small living room filled with bookcases and with paintings of old ponies wearing silly hats while taking serious expressions.

"The Count will arrive shortly," the butler said before he left us.
As soon as the door closed, Verso took over. "Why are you visiting this count, prince?"
"Humpf. As impertinant as always, I see." He waited a couple seconds for Verso to correct himself, but it obviously didn't come. "The Count and I have some business to talk about, but that doesn't concern you. The reason why you are here is partly because aunt Celestia promised retribution if we were to get separated, and partly because I want to know you'll handle discussing with another noble."
"Is there anything I should know about our host?"
"Well, he made his fortune by owning a couple newspapers and studies medicine in his free time. He takes great pride in that one, so much in fact that he tends to make himself call a doctor."
"Oh, an intellectual?" Verso called in surprise. "That could lead to interesting conversations."
Mister Prince Blueblood snorted. "As if somepony like you could sustain a conversation with one of Canterlot's elite."
Verso glared darkly at him. "I highly doubt that any of you 'elite' knows but a tenth of what I have learned over the years, pony. You probably know your History and your geography better than I, but you would be absolutely crushed by my scientific knowledge. Show some respect, you uneducated prick."
The prince was now staring at us shocked, his jaw hanging in an unarticulated retort. It took him a couple seconds to reply. "How dare you?! You insignificant-!"
"Your Highness!" a voice interrupted just as the door flew open.

An older unicorn with a gray coat, a white mane and mustache, wearing a black suit entered and closed the door behind him.

"I wasn't expecting a visit from you this close to the Grand Galloping Gala. What can I do for you, my prince?" He quickly glanced in our direction and his empty-looking smile turned into a frown for a second. "Do you seek help with a new pet, maybe?"
Mister Prince Blueblood puffed and I felt heat coming to our face. "I am not a pet!" Verso growled, and the old unicorn stepped back, surprised.
"Oh, excuse me, I had you mistaken for some sort of monkey. These creatures are at best rather clever for animals, but I would not say 'intelligent'."
Calm down, I said, anyone could have mistaken us for something else. Most ponies don't know what a human is, right?
He cooled down a bit, but kept glaring at the newcomer. "I accept your excuses. In your defense, I am the only one of my kind here and my species does share ancestors with monkeys."
Mister Prince Blueblood's eyes sparkled when Verso said that. "I didn't know you were some sort of monkey, though I do see the resssemblance now that the Count pointed it."
Verso glared at him again. "I am not a monkey, Blueblood."
"But you just said that you had monkey ancestors, mister..?" the count insisted.
"Verso. And I didn't say that some of my ancestors were monkeys, I said that our species shared rather recent ancestors. Doesn't a doctor like you know of the Theory of Evolution?"
"The Theory of what?" he asked, confused.

Verso threw our arms in the air and turned back,to look at the paintings and books in the living room, muttering some mean things about ponies being dumb, stupid, uneducated- you probably got the idea. The count looked confused at us for a couple moments still before he shooks his head and looked back at mister Prince Blueblood.

"Forget him. He tries to make himself sound more cultured than anypony but always ends up spouting some nonsense. Just the other day, he was pretending that light was actually composed of little particles that don't have any weight. Doesn't that sound just absurd?"
"Indeed it does," the doctor pony confirmed. Verso whined internally. "But, what gives me the honor of your visit today, your Highness?"
"Oh, yes," he said, his voice growing colder. "I have come to you today to ask you to print out an excuse for the lies in an article about me you published yesterday in the Canterlot Daily. Immediately."
Oh, that could be interesting... Verso thought as he kept looking at the titles of several books while giving his full attention to the conversation.
"What article are you talking about, your Highness? And I assure you, my reporters do not lie in their writings."
"I'm sure you know the one, Count," mister Prince Blueblood nearly spat. "But in case you needed a reminder, I am talking about the article that speaks about some sort of romantic relationship between myself and miss Fleur de Lys!"
Oh, skies, just some boring extramarital affair between horses. What a let down.
Extra-what now?
Uh... How should I... Blueblood tried to act as if someone else's girlfriend was his girlfriend, and a news-reporter probably saw them and wrote an article to let everyone know.
Oh. I... I'm not sure what to...
Blueblood is being shamed down because he is an idiot, and he is trying to put it under the rug.
"I can assure you, your Highness, that none of my reporters would dare to publish such an article without being absolutely sure that..."
"I don't care what your reporters would do!" mister Prince Blueblood shouted. "I want this story removed and I want your journal to make excuses for daring to make up such news for the shock value!"
"Prince Blueblood, I am insulted that you simply insinuate that my journal would do such a thing!" the Count replied, equally loud. "Besides," he added, barely audible, "a marizer such as yourself has no lesson in honesty to give me."
"You dare-!"
Heh. Funny.
No, it's not. They're getting really angry at each other. I mentally gasped. Maybe they will get so upset at each other that they won't be friends anymore! That would be horrible! We have to stop them!
Why? It's entertaining to see them fight like that.

It is, ī̘̪͙̮̅̾ͮn̼̰̼͔̖̱ͯ͒̌̚d͕̦͈͋̆̅̐ḛ̪̓̅ed͑̉͒ͧ̓.̮̋̾ͤͤ͂

I wondered where this voice came from for a second before I felt something like an icy spike violently entering our head and we blacked out.

"I was in control when we woke up, and while Verso wasn't quite sleeping, he didn't react when I called him a couple times," I told the inspector in front of us. "I got up to our feet and looked around. I quickly realized that mister Prince Blueblood was nowhere to be seen, but it took me some time to spot mister Count Doctor Boddy laying on the ground, glass shards around his head. Some really liquid kind of red jam was covering his head and the carpet underneath him, as well as most of the shards. I got next to mister Doctor Boddy and tried to get his head rid of some of the jam and to wake him up. A handful of seconds later, you policeponies entered the room, shouted at me to get away from him and to lay flat on the ground, so I did. Do I need to keep talking, or is it okay if I stop? Because it's getting long and you know the rest of the story."
"That will be fine, mister Ver-.. mister Recto. So, you are saying that you fell unconscious while his Highness Prince Blueblood and doctor Boddy were having a fight and that you woke up only a few moments before the policeponies, arrived, is that right?"
"Well, yes."
"Is it possible that your other half -mister Verso- could have still been awake while you were unconscious?"
"Well, Verso sometimes ask me to go to sleep when he has to do something that he thinks I should not see, or when he wants to have a private conversation with someone. But I always decide myself to sleep, so I think we simply had a big headache and that we fell unconscious or something like that."

Officer Agent Smith nodded and stayed silent for a few moments, while he was writing down something on a blank page in our file. I kept quiet too, looking around us, waiting for him to finish. A handful of seconds later, he stopped writing, closed the file and stood up.

"Very well, mister Recto. I will leave you alone for a moment while I speak with my superiors, and then we will see what happens now. I'll be back soon."
I nodded. "Okay, mister policepony. But, uh, could you get me some sort of towel or anything? I'd like to wash our hands of the dried jam."
He blinked. "That's not... I'll get you something."

He opened the door and asked for a towel, that he gave me before leaving the room completely. I washed our hands as I could and started to wait. Again. It's really boring to have to wait when Verso isn't around to chat with. But he still wasn't answering my calls, which was starting to creep me out a little bit, so it's not like I had the choice.

I don't know how long exactly I had to wait (I'd say a really long time, but I know time seems to pass slower when you're bored) before anything happened. And 'anything' wasn't anything at all: we got instantly teleported from our interrogation room to the throne room. Miss Princess Celestia was sitting on her throne and Luna was sitting next to her on what looked like a really comfy dark blue pillow. The room was devoid of guards, strangely, and the two princesses were looking down at us.

"Miss Princess Celestia! Luna! It's nice seeing you so soon! But, huh, we were in an interrogation room just now, and I think the policeponies would get really upset if-"
"I told them it was alright to let you go, Recto," miss Princess Celestia said in a somewhat cold tone.
I smiled brightly. "Really? That's so nice of you! Will they be alright with their investigation? They could need me to keep telling them everything that happened. Well, I already have, but may want some precisions of that sort of thing."
Luna glanced at her sister for an instant before letting her eyes rest on us again. "They shall be alright, Recto, rest assured," she said. "We have been given an exemplary of the report your testimony helped fill, and we judged that it would be better for everypony if we could see you as soon as possible."
I was surprised. "Really? You want to know something? Oh, and do you know if mister Boddy is alright? I forgot to ask the policepony earlier."
This time, they both shared a glance. "Count Boddy is dead, Recto," miss Princess Celestia said.
I blinked. "What?"
"The pony my nephew brought you to meet is dead. He has been assassinated."
I felt our legs becoming pretty weak under us. "What- No, he's not. Verso was talking to him just this morning and..."
"He was killed."

I fell down, forced to seat as our legs didn't support us anymore. In fact, I could hardly feel anything from waist down. I remembered the very first instants after I woke up, when I grabbed mister Boddy and tried to clean him of...

"That... That wasn't jam, was it?" I squeaked more than I asked as I suddenly had trouble talking in the first place. I could feel my body growing cold. Unbearably so.
"No. That wasn't," Luna said, her voice suddenly soft again.

The cold gained again in intensity. I wasn't supposed to be this cold. It was... painful. I could also feel every ounce of energy leaving me, making me feel drowsy. I was getting tired. So tired... The world around me was slowly disappearing. Maybe... Maybe sleeping would make the cold go away? I thought.

Then, I felt Verso coming back to the front. I felt his warm mind surrounding mine, and I forgot the horrible cold that was coursing through our body just moments ago. And I heard his voice rocking me gently to sleep. And I fell asleep.

Okay, I'm pretty certain that you would like to know what happened those days from my point of view, right? Of course you do, you wouldn't have forced us to tell you otherwise. Well, here are the parts Recto left out.

I take it that you're wondering why we were so strangely tired after Blueblood's lesson, even though I had insisted that Recto got to sleep early? Well, I'm sure you're smart enough to have figured it out: when he fell asleep, I didn't. During those two nights I decided to instead try and read as much of Luna's diary as I could. Now, you surely remember how I usually do this: look at a bunch of pages while I'm keeping our body awake and then read them via our memory while our body was resting. Well, it didn't work with that fucking book, for some bullshit reason. When I was looking at it via our memories, the text was simply worming around the pages, illisible. So I decided that I would do it the old fashioned way: by looking through it while awake. I will also take this opportunity to remind you that Kay was getting able to speak through the Gate again, so all in all, not spending my entire night in that place wasn't so bad.

Anyway, back to business. Luna's diary was really interesting. She probably started it when she was really young, though I'm not sure how old she was exactly. But, strangely, it always referred to the princesses parents as being 'away', even when she was really young. In fact, I'm pretty confident that Luna was raised nearly solely by her older sister.

Apparently, the Royal sisters weren't always 'Royal'. The diary implies that Luna was born not long before Discord brought down Equestria's prior government and started to rule himself. Celestia herself was barely in her mid-teens when the diary starts. And they were apparently moving from town to town, trying to keep their nature as alicorns a secret from other ponies as much as they could. According to what she told her sister, Celestia had been told by their parents before they 'went away' that they had to find a way to stop Discord and restore harmony to Equestria, or some other bullshit like that.

Personally, I think their parents were dead and that Celestia was one lucky delusional teenage pony.

Where was I... Oh, yeah. So, they traveled quite a bit, searching for a way to get rid of Discord. And when I say quite a bit, I mean it: Luna was nineteen when she first heard her sister talk about the Tree of Harmony. She heard that it was supposed to fight evil doers and bring peace to the world. Sounds stupid, doesn't it? Well, that's what Luna thought too. She actually thought that, being powerful alicorns and everything, they could defeat Discord on their own.

So, when she heard that Discord was playing with the inhabitants of a nearby town, can you guess what she did? Three chances and the first two don't count.

She went to fight him on her own. Of course, she was rescued by her sister at the last minute, before Discord could completely whoop her ass. So they got better. But Discord was aware that they existed, now, so he started to play a little game with them. He chased them down a bit, before he got bored and used the easy way: he took a city in hostage where he knew the sisters had passed shortly before him, and shouted all around Equestria that they had a couple days to surrender to him before he turned every pony in town into newts or other small creatures.

Thankfully for them, the town also happened to be situated only a day away from the cave that the mysterious Tree of Harmony resided in. So they walked through a cursed forest, into a cave, found the Tree, took its 'Elements', made their way back to the town, and finally turned a laughing Discord into stone.

You have no idea how much I would have paid to see that.

Anyway, the Elements destroyed the effects of Discord's magic of the land and restored Equestria to its former beauty. The ponies then made them their leaders and they built a castle right over the Tree's cave. In the cursed forest. That was somehow supposed to be kept in check by a now near-powerless magical tree.

As stupid as I try to make it sound (and as it was), it worked really well. The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters soon became surrounded by a city, and the alicorn sisters ruled from there. I'll pass on some uninteresting things, like the changeling attacks or the political events and all that boring stuff. They had to repel a number of other monsters with the elements, mainly Tirek, some sort of demon-centaur-king that steals magic. I remembered that Twilight said that she (and he friends) had defeated him, so I decided to ask for clarifications later. But, according to the diary, he was unthinkably old. His brother, Scorpan, had come a couple centuries before as a scout for their invasion and was befriended by Starswirl the Bearded. Now, I knew that name, because Twilight simply won't shut up about him, and he apparently meant really big deal. Then, Scorpan got back to his brother Tirek and neither of them were heard for centuries.

That is, before he came back, half-dead, to meet the freshly-crowned Princesses and warn them that, despite his best efforts to stop his brother for more than two hundred years, Tirek was coming to Equestria to eat their magic. The Princesses saved Scorpan and dealt with the demon-centaur-king-thing accordingly (understand, by taking away his power, turning him into a raggedy old centaur and imprisoning him directly inside pony-hell, which coincidentally is named Tartarus).

The next interesting item in the story was their discovery and relationship with the Crystal Empire. Nearly just a week after they had gotten rid of Discord, and only a couple days after their coronation, the Princesses received the visit from strange-looking earth-ponies that shimmered like crystals. They said they were diplomats from the distant Crystal Empire, a huge city of crystal ponies far, far up in the north, and that they had been sent to establish diplomatic and trading relationship with the alicorn sisters. Now, I'll try to be clear; at this period of time, there were no vehicles to make anyone go faster than they were able to walk on their own. Which meant that earth-ponies and unicorns walked, and that pegasi flew, and that's it. They said that they had been sent as soon as they knew that Discord had been defeated.

Now, try to keep up with me on this point: to reach the Empire by foot, one would have at least a one month journey in front of himself. They had done so in seven days. That's bound to pick people's interest. When asked, they answered that they of course didn't walk all the way from there, that would have been silly.

No, the two wingless ponies flew from there, of course.

Luna thought they were nutjobs, but her sister thankfully didn't and upon further discussion with the two envoys. It appeared that the Empire had some sort of strange magical technology up in its sleeves that had allowed them to use unicorn-grade magical manipulation to give themselves wings. They performed in front of the entire Court and, indeed, they gave themselves wings. Luna described it as one of the most mind-bending spectacles she had seen to this point.

So they of course opened trade with the Empire. It went well for over seventy years, during which Equestria recovered a lot of ancient texts that had been destroyed by Discord in their land via the Empire, as well as some magical know-how. But every good thing has an end, and the peaceful relationship with the Empire met a somber one. Heh.

You have to know that the Empire was ruled by the Imperial Family, a bunch of strange-looking unicorns that crowned themselves King or Queen of the place heaven-knows how long ago. For sixty years, Equestria's relationship had started with a young king and continued upon his (natural) death with his wife, the Queen. But, eventually, the Queen died too, and the crown went down one level on the family tree to rest onto their son's head, King Sombra, named after his unusual dark coat.

Sombra started out as a pretty friendly king too, but that wasn't meant to last. Soon, the Empire was under attack by a bunch of dragon, who looked upon the town as a giant snack. Their most powerful relic, the Crystal Heart, was visibly able to contain usual attacks, but this raid was insistant, and soon, Sombra asked for Equestria's help. Sadly, Equestria itself was under attack in a number of places by several changeling hives, so they couldn't spare the military power required to help their neighbors.

Becoming desperate that the dragons may well pierce through the Heart's defenses, Sombra searched for a way to defeat them once and for all. Then, one day, it happened. Luna's diary said that the Dragons weren't just defeated there, but that they fled in utter terror and that most of them swore to never, EVER go back there, even if they had to starve. A couple months later, when the hives were finally eradicated, Luna went to the north to meet Sombra and ask how he succeeded.

When Luna arrived, the Empire appeared darker than usual. The Crystal Heart was nowhere to be seen, the ponies were hanging their head low, the whole city seemed to be mourning. When she finally reached the King, Sombra was changed. His horn had been turned red, his eyes were now red and green where they were supposed to be red and white, and purple energy was pouring from the King's eyeballs.

And he was furious. No, furious doesn't even begin to cover the state of his anger against the dragons, Celestia, Luna, Equestria, and the world in general. But mainly the dragons. He told Luna that, since the dragons were starting to breach the Heart's shield, and that his own soldiers weren't enough to fight the giant lizards back, he had to use unconventional means to protect his kingdom. He had found a book that taught him how to use ancient and incredibly powerful magic to defend his kingdom, but that he had to deactivate the Crystal Heart for it to work. Hopeless, he followed the book's instructions and was granted the power he needed. But, sadly, between the moment that the Heart was switched off and his own counter attack, a couple dragons were able to attack the city, and they killed a few ponies, mainly Sombra's wife.

He also discovered that he couldn't just now replace the Crystal Heart in its place, since now that he had this dark power inside him, the Heart would destroy him upon activation. And he accused Equestria's unwillingness to help as the source of this tragedy. He burned the bridges between the two kingdoms and forbid the Equestrians to ever come back in his realm.

The two kingdoms remained separated for ten years, no information filtering from the Empire at all. Until, one day, Sombra's daughter and a servant arrived in front of the Royal Sisters and begged them for help. Sombra had gone mad and reduced their people into slavery, obsessing over crystals for some unknown reason. He was using his magic to keep the crystal ponies from escaping, forcing fear and sadness into their heart with his dark magic.

Celestia and Luna went to the Empire, bringing the Elements with them. They were intending to try and reason the mad king first, and, if that didn't work, to save his own people from himself. Sombra laughed in their face and attacked them. Luna, ever the so easily defeated, was hit by his then-famous terror spell, and while she didn't mention exactly what she saw, it shook her to the bottom of her being. Celestia helped her sister to recover and they blasted the King of the North with the Elements, turned him to shadows and banished him under the ice of the arctic north. But he had cursed his whole Empire and the Crystal Kingdom vanished.

The Princesses were feeling guilty to have failed in their rescue mission and Sombra's daughter was devastated. She nevertheless chose to stay in Equestria's court, in the hope that, one day, the Empire would come back.

Now, I'm pretty sure that your are enchanted to go through Equestria's lore. Don't try to hide it, next to nobody likes sitting down and being told about history that they probably already knew anyway, but you asked me to tell you my story as I experienced it, and the informations I retrieved from this book are crazy important. Without going any further, I already knew that I wanted to go to the Crystal Empire to maybe study their magical ways and discover a way to get rid of Kay and the Whispers.

But the Diary wasn't over, of course. Now, it was starting to get interesting. You see, soon after her fight against Sombra, Luna became a bit more paranoid. Being younger, smaller and less powerful than the almighty Celestia already meant that she wasn't being loved as much as her sister by most of the population, but she was beginning to recognize fear in the eyes of her subjects when they were talking to her. Soon, she became persuaded that her ponies hated her and her night and that her very own sister was doing her best to enforce this fear to promote herself. She became jealous, and afraid that, maybe, her sister may try to get rid of her one day. She became crazier and crazier each month, finally getting in her head that the night needed to be longer than the day by a generous margin.

Four years after her fight with Sombra, she started to experiment with her own version of dark magic, what she called 'Nightmare magic'. And the following year, during the Summer Solstice, she decided to act.

That was the end of the journal, but I had a rough idea of how things went, thanks to the ever-so-talkative Twilight Sparkle: the moon princess 'embraced the nightmare', forced the day to stop via an eclipse, beat Celestia senseless and finally got her ass handed to her by being imprinted on the moon for a thousand years via the Elements.

Now, as much as I loved having more informations on Sunbutt and Moonhide to emotionally blackmail them, I got worried. Looking at Luna's descent into madness, I recognize the influence of something. Luna had told me before that some sort of parasite had invaded her mind and turned her crazy, eventually taking over when she became Nightmare Moon (which is a silly name, by the way), and her diary was enough to prove that she was right. Well, it was enough for me. Most psychologist would probably find another reason, like PTSD evolving into violent paranoia of something, but most psychologist don't have the chance of having experienced a 'mind leech' first handedly, like I have.

I was pretty sure that Sombra had somehow infected her with this parasite, and that the King himself had been infected beforehand. Which meant that the source of this madness was located somewhere in the north, in the Crystal Empire's Library. And I had to find it, before anyone else stepped upon something that they wouldn't be able to control. And maybe, maybe, it could help me find a way to get rid of my own mind parasites...

Anyway, back to the story. So, I had read this huge-ass diary in its entirety in two nights, leaving us pretty tired. I went to work on my new plan only an hour before Recto woke up, and I successfully told him to force me out of my mind-cocoon only when our boring real-world lessons would start. Which meant I spent a lot too many hours in company of Kay's hateful and annoying voice, not mentioning the thunder that would sometimes give me little heart attacks.

I hate thunder.

Recto told you of how the morning started. I hate this mockery of a prince that Celestia forced me to follow around. Racist, ignorant, unreasonable, stupid prick. And the list goes on. And the bastard had given me some hopes of having an intellectual conversation with someone else than Twilight for once, until that stupid Count showed me how little ponies in general know about science.

So I was listening to Blueblood and his friend fight over a stupid article when the other bastard talked. I heard his voice as well as I would have if I had been in that horrible ruin of a mind I inhabit. That in itself was horrifying to me: he hadn't been able to talk to me anywhere else than there in years. But the most horrible for me was that Recto heard him too. Recto wasn't even supposed to be able to hear his voice, and he responded to him. So I panicked and immediately tore Recto's connection with the real world, forcing him to revert to his sleeping persona. And I retreated in our mind, effectively passing out. Not that I really cared: as far as I knew, I could have had only a few seconds left to live anyway.

When I arrived, my first thought was to check the seal. It was intact, even against Kay's and the Whispers' best efforts. Then, sure that hell wasn't going to break loose in a second, and mostly ignoring the thunder's roars that were coming from outside, I checked on Recto. Thankfully, he looked alright too. I spent a really long time carefully reconstructing Recto's links with our body, after I made sure to cut off my own and leaving us in a temporary coma. Once I had restored Recto's link, I helped him to wake up and left him on the front, hoping that everything would be alright.

Then, I turned back at the door.

"How. And why."
"What are you asking, Traitor?" Kay's voice answered, making me shiver.
"How did you talk to me outside of this place? You aren't supposed to be able to!"
He snorted. "Father's binds may prevent us from taking over and destroying you and your pet, Traitor, but our power keeps growing. And it is easy to reach you. We are linked together, after all. That thing that you keep at your side probably eared us through you."
"Great, so now I have to create another seal to prevent Recto from earing you while I work on a way to shut you up for good."
"Don't be so cocky, Traitor. You would come to regret it."
"Thanks to Discord's help, you can't win. That's all I need to know for now. I don't have to be afraid of you anymore, Kay. You are just a bug that I will crush under my foot."

Thunder roared more powerful than ever, nearly deafening me as the door was hit by something that felt too immense to be really understood.

D̘̅͆ͪͤ͋̀O͗̄ͧ̐ͯ͢ ̰̥̙͙̤̥̜N̺̻͔̳͇̥ͬ̾̊͑O̿̒ͧͬ̊̊͏̠̹͎̟̖T̂͒ͮ ͗̏̉҉̦U͉̣̖̣̹͖͓͋ͬͦ̍̎̎N̦ͦ̉͘D̤ͧͩ̅ͮ͐͡E̝̰̜̘̹̦̗͒̽̾͒Ṟ͓̤̆̌E͕̖S͚̠͑̾̉̇ͦ̅̀T͖̠̘̞̲̩́͂Iͤ̊͒ͫ̉̃́M͔͍̳͎̳̣ͧA͖̯ͬ͛T̻̮͖̳̖̺̗͘Eͦͭ̄͛ͣͮͦ ͓̣̪͖̾͛̈̊̅̓Ơ̎Ű͍̳̳͋R͓̱̱̩͚͖̕ ̟͇̝̬̄ͨͦ͋͋P̫̪̬̬̤̀̓Ǒ͕͚̝̤̆͂̽̎͟ͅW̰̞͖͍̞̰̭͝Ẹ̢̜̦̙͒ͦR͕̰̤͚͖̀͛͌̆̏͛̀,ͣ͆͑̑̉ͯͨ ̰̗͗͐̕T̢̘̞̞̗̦R̥̪͉͓͈̬͟A̦͎̜͙͖̱ͭ̽͑́͋͊I̜̙͇ͧ̂ͩ̌͛̂T̡̤̯̋ͭ͆ͮͭ̚O̫͔ͭͧ͆̿ͧ̓ͯŔ̹̳̲̩ͪ̎̎.͎ ̦͚̬̐̈́̓̆̍ͤ̏W̶͔̤̠̗͖ͦ̎͗e͕͙̒ͪ ͇̠̝̱ͬ̀̓̀͝w̨̥ͫͦ̒ͮͪ̓i̹̳̗ͭͥͨ̉̒ͧ̑l̷͍͖̚ĺ͋̏ͧ ͍͖̏̊̉͌ͫͨ͐ẇ͔͊̏ͯi̛ͭ̈ñ̬̆͊ ̜̬̰̮̲ͩ̒ͯͭt̺͒͌̚̕h͈ì̟̼̣̮͠s̬̀ ̟̗̩͙̻͊̾ͤ͞w̛̝̙͐a̝͇̝̟̩̠̼͘r͔͔ͥ̚.̖̣̲̰͙͂͜ ̴̞̦̯̭̟͚̺́̃ͣͨ̃Y̍̄̆ͫ̑ͧͣ҉̦̖o̩ͩͧ͝u͂ ̧͂̄͊͌c̥̟̭͉͉̝̞̐̽̅̇͘á͉̯̳̗͍̮̜n̩̪̰̘̠̝̫ ͚̖̭̣̟̀̚ñ͇͓̺̝͒́͒o̞̣̯̯̒ͥtͬ̓̑ ̣̜̌́̔̎̾ͣs͚̹̰̭̙͉͛̔ͩ͊û͍́cͮ̈̔̂̿c̡̺̰̻͇̯̥̼̽e̙̞̳̎̑ͣͣ̚ḙ͚͎̹̱̼̃ͬ͋d̬̂͋̂̉̂ͪ̈.̬̱̐̀̓̑̐ͫ̄

I gulped down and felt tears coming to my eyes, my old terror not so eager to leave me alone, but I soldiered on. I added a few enchanted chains to the door and linked them to me and to the ground. Infused with my power, they would prevent Recto to hear their voices threw me again. It would add another weight to my conscience, but in the end, Recto would be safe from the Whispers, so everything was perfect.

Then, doing my best to just ignore Kay's screams and the Whispers' voices and thunder, I meticulously re-crafted my own links to our body, making sure not to touch at Recto's new ones and possibly infect them somehow. All of it while trying to appear braver than I felt in front of them and keeping myself from crying out of fear or depression. I wasn't as afraid of them as I had been, but fear still lingered in my soul, and Kay and his friends were hurtful, as always.

I took me a lot longer to reconnect myself to our body than I needed to reconnect Recto. Partly because I wasn't as careful when I rebuilt Recto's, and partly because of the differences in our souls, which made mine a heck lot more complex. But in the end, I succeeded.

And it was nearly too late. As soon as my last link to our body formed, I heard Recto's voice crying and looked at him in the bed. My heart nearly stopped. I won't describe how his real world distress looked like from the inside of our mind, because it's... Because I can't. Not to you. Not to anyone. It's the sort of thing that makes me glad that I'm unable to have nightmares. And it sadly wasn't the first time I saw it.

Thankfully, I knew what to do. I ran to the bed and hugged his breaking soul against me. I then stabilized him with my own power and calmed him down. It thankfully hadn't got too far in the process, so I was able to relatively quickly ease him to sleep. I stayed with him for a few seconds in our minds and an instant only in the real world before I took over.

I opened my eyes to see Luna's worried ones. She nearly jumped back when she realized that I was the one who woke up, and I used the few instants of confusion to access Recto's memory and find out just what the hell happened while I was away.

Then, I got angry.

Author's Note

And it is said than on the first day of the third month, he shall come back from the dead! All shall kneel before his glory! Muhahaha!

No, seriously guys, I can't even nderstand how it took me nearly THREE MONTHS to publish this chapter. Well, I did have my exams, my driving license test, my trip to Australia for studies... But it still left me plenty of time I should have used to write this one down and send it to you!
In my excuse, I also blame Smash Bros. Yes, it's pathetic. You may laugh at me now.

So, a heavy chapter, huh? You have pretty much most of my headcanon for the story written in the last part here. I hope I didn't bore you with a quick history lesson.
Now, the part that I'm sure you are all waiting for since I started to include them in the Author's notes: the spoilers!
In the next episode of Screwed Minds : Questions, Gala and more Royalty.
See you soon!

Chapter 22: Fear

Author's Note

Hello again! You may have noticed already, but this chapter is a lot shorter than usual. That's because I actually wrote a really big one in an attempt to respect all the hints I left in the Author's Notes last time, but I realized that it was
a) A lot bigger than I expected. :twilightoops:
b) So inconsistent regarding the content of that proto-chapter 22 that it was confusing. :applejackconfused:
C) A heck lot longer to write.

So I decided to divide it into three smaller chapters. A bit more than the first two-thirds are already written down, so expect the next one soon (meaning, later today or tomorrow at the latest).

No spoilers this time. Sorry. :fluttershysad:
Enjoy!

Chapter 22: Fear

"You... You have no idea what you've nearly done," I growled as I stood up.

Anger- no, wrath was starting to blind me with its red mist, and both Luna and Celestia immediately raised their wings into a reflex fight-or-flight position. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as my rage and my desire to punish the princesses was growing more and more. I wanted to hurt them, I wanted to see their blood cover the floor for what they had done, but I was still in that strange state where I was still able to think rationally while my wrath was threatening to turn me into a mindless beast.

"I warned you... I warned you about what could happen if you tried to expose him directly to death, Princess. I warned you about what I would do if you harmed him. And you still FUCKING DID IT!" I roared more than I shouted.

"We... We didn't think that-" Luna tried

"Oh, if you didn't think, it's fine!" I shouted, making the dumb princess shut up. "Or, even better, I'm guessing that one of you got herself the idea to test whether or not I would have lied about my brother's health? Maybe to make sure that I wasn't lying to him just to keep him on my side, hum?"

While I was expecting Luna to be the one that I would soon make beg for mercy, what with her doubting my every word since day one, Celestia was the one that looked horribly guilty. It surprised me a little, but not enough to distract me from my primary intention: finding out whether or not they were truly immortals. I felt the fire of magic reaching my hands just as I emitted my sense field the same way I had when I fought Luna. Sadly, they both recognized the spell and put up a shield to stop its harmful effects.

I still hadn't completely lost it, though, and didn't attack immediately after.

"I should rip you two apart piece by piece and make you scream loud enough to let your entire kingdom know what happens when you hurt my brother," I said, my voice boiling. "Maybe let one of you alive long enough to tell the story?"

"Verso!" Celestia called in a harsh tone. "Get ahold of yourself! We are sorry that-"

"I DON'T CARE!" I shouted just as I fired an energy beam that missed, thanks to my anger. "I don't fucking care if you're sorry! I don't fucking care if you thought it would be for the greater good! I don't fucking care if I get chased down by every living creature in this miserable world! I WILL make you pay for what you just did!"

And with that, I fired another beam, more accurate this time, that destroyed Celestia's shield. While her sister gasped in surprise, Luna replicated, casting some sort of spell on the carpet beneath my feet. It ripped itself into ropes and surged forward to me, trying to immobilize me. I burnt the fucker down in an instant and took hold of the ridiculous fountains under the throne, launching a heavy jet of water onto Bluebitch, effectively knocking her away. She quickly got back to her senses and her horn shined brighter. A sudden and powerful gust of wind threw me back a solid five meters and I fell harshly against the hard floor, cracking a bone.

Pain distracted me a little as I used magic to heal it quickly, with success this time, contrarily to my failure at the same attempt against Luna when we arrived. I sensed an impressive amount of water shooting in my direction and raised my own shield. The jet was still powerful enough to make me struggle, though, and I could do little less than maintaining a force-field around me.

"Verso, please! Calm down!" Celestia yelled again, and I realized that she was the one attacking me with water.

"I will fucking murder you!"

"It seems that we have no choice but to cool him down for a moment, sister," Bluebitch said from above me.

I looked up in a hurry, even though it was unnecessary. I had been so concentrated on my defense that I somehow didn't feel her coming only a couple meters above me, standing on my shield. She reared back for an instant and slammed her front hooves down with such force that my shield crumbled. I got hit by the water before I could do anything, and my ribcage nearly ruptured at the hit.

One of them magically forced the water to form a blob around my body, leaving my head and neck safely outside, and Luna casted another spell, freezing the water and imprisoning me in a block of ice.

I didn't really care at the time, but I probably looked stupid as fuck.

"Release me!" I shouted, trying my best to break the ice by moving around. That didn't do much, and I couldn't activate my magic for some bullshit reason. "Release me so that I can rip your heads off!"

"You do bring an appealing argument, but I think I'll pass," Luna said, smirking smugly as she landed in front of me.

I would have killed her for that alone. Killed her and put her head on a spike that I would have carried around the city. Celestia walked up to us and glared at her sister, making the younger princess lose the smirk and look away in shame. Then, she looked at me, sad. Myself, I was too occupied finding a way to make my magic work while the freezing cold was stabbing me. Have you ever been encased in ice? Well, I suppose such a concept doesn't really concern you, but understand this: painful and horrible doesn't begin to describe it. But the cold was calming me down, so I suppose it worked pretty well.

"Verso, I understand your anger, but listen to us, please."

"Why? So that you try and find a way to make my soul crumble?" I spat at her, still enraged. "That's not happening. I'm going to break free in a second and then I'll tear your fucking horn off and use it to rip out your tongue."

They both looked concerned, if a little disgusted. "He does get pretty graphic with his threats, doesn't he?" Luna commented.

"The lesser sibling can shut the fuck up, grown ups are trying to murder each other here." I would have smirked when the younger princess got immediately infuriated, but I didn't exactly feel like it.

"YOU LITTLE-" she started with her somewhat famous 'Canterlot Voice', but Celestia's golden magic force her mouth closed.

"As always, sister, your banter isn't helping." Luna looked outright furious at Celestia, and I continued.

"Aw, look, big sis knows best, as always. It's a wonder you're still trying to do things by yourself, Lulu."

Luna looked shocked -and satisfyingly hurt- at me and Celestia's stare hardened, but she didn't comment.

"Verso, before I start explaining my actions, I want the truth: what happened in Count Boddy's home?"

I looked angrily at her. "Oh, so not only did you try to kill Recto, but you're also accusing me of senseless murder at the same time?"

She stepped back, shocked and freeing Luna's muzzle. "I didn't-"

"It's simple: we passed out. Recto woke up first. End of the story."

Luna glanced at her sister, who was looking away.

"So you maintain that you didn't kill him?" she asked.

"Why would I have?" I yelled back at her. "For heavens' sake, I barely knew that guy for five minutes before we blacked out!"

"So that means..." Luna whispered for herself.

"We'll let the police officers make their investigation," Celestia declared. "We'll see what comes out of it."

"But, sister-!"

"I think we both falsely accused enough ponies for today, Luna. I don't want to had a name to that list."

"Oh, so you won't arrest Blueblood?" I asked, and they both looked at me, surprised. "What? Don't look at me like that. It's pretty obvious that he did it. They were getting agressive, the murder will drown the public's attention away from his affair with that Fleur-de-something and I'm the most likely suspect. Of course he killed the count."

Luna looked like she was about to say something but Celestia interrupted her, again.

"Theories aren't proofs, Verso."

I glared back at her. "Didn't stop you either of you from almost murdering Recto, did it?"

She looked away in shame again. "I thought that it would be harmless if I was wrong..."

"Harmless?!" I shouted. "I told you it would make him fade away, and you thought it was harmless?!"

"With the way that you described, I understood that he would simply fall asleep and that you would wake up in his place!"

"HOW COULD YOU THINK THAT?!" I shouted, burning anger returning to my head. "I told you about what I would do if you attempted to do that, and you thought that it would be because I'm cranky when I wake up? How fucking stupid are you?!"

"Watch your tongue, human!" Luna ordered.

"Shut your mouth, horse!" I replied, and she looked like she wasn't expecting a comeback. "How fucking psychotic do you think I am exactly? You think that I would manipulate my own brother into being a fucking constant twelve-years old? Is that what you think?"

"W-Well, no, but..."

"But WHAT?! Why do you think I have some sort evil plan going on? Why do you think I'm plotting against Recto?" They both looked away, but I wasn't having any of this. "Answer me!"

It took them a moment, but Luna raised her head and looked at me in the eyes. I could read her worries in her expression, as well as her distrust. But, most of all, I could see her resolve.

"I cannot help but think of Nightmare Moon when I look at you, Verso," she said and I rolled my eyes. "Your brother and you are so diametrically opposed. You are aggressive and untrustworthy. And I just know that you are trying as hard as you can to hide something from us. On the other hoof, Recto is so... innocent, and bluntly honest. I simply cannot believe you two are sharing in the same body. It simply doesn't feel... natural. To think that someone like him is... chained to you, who don't seem to perceive a pony's life as being worthy of consideration pains me for him."

I know what you would expect of me. Such comments usually would have made me explose in a righteous blood-thirst. You think that I would have tried even harder to free myself from that damned block of ice to eviscerate her before hanging her from the highest tower in her ridiculous place with her own entrails and crushing each and every one of her bones into a fine dust. (Hum..? Yes, well, Luna said it too: I do usually get rather descriptive with my ideas.)

And you would probably have been right to think so, had she chose any other way to put her insults and overall disgusts to words. As it was, her comments brought back memories I thought I had buried deeply in the recesses of my mind. I got entangled in them and barely even listened to the whole thing. She was unknowingly hitting a weak spot of mine, which was nearly enough to bring me to tears and to just start crying in front of them. It-It's just...

...

Yes, I'll be fine. Just needed some time to... Needed some time. No, I won't... We'll reach that particular spot later anyway. Where was I, again? Oh, that's right. Well then, let's keep going, shall we?

Luna's 'excuse' for her doubts cooled me down, at least, and I adverted my gaze from hers, fearing that I would just reveal everything to them and put Recto and I into even more danger. Retrospectively, I would bash me in the skull repeatedly with a shovel and yell at myself for not doing it. It would have changed so much...

Anyway, now is not the time to reflect on my stubbornness and -well, okay, it is, but I'm telling you a story, so stop interrupting me every two seconds, dammit. I turned my head to stare at the one that had the oh-so-great idea that could have killed Recto, only to find Celestia looking away, her shoulders low. She looked guilty as charged, reminding me of the source of my nearly drowned-out anger and slowly setting it ablaze again.

"And you, Princess Celestia?" I asked, my voice thankfully not showing the deep anguish that Luna's words had brought. "Why in the nine hells do you think I'm 'evil'?"

"I... Luna, could you leave us for a moment, please?"

I gotta admit, I wasn't expecting that. And neither did Luna, judging by her face. Her surprise was quickly replaced by pain and sadness. I figure she didn't like the idea that Celestia wasn't trusting her with something like that. For a couple seconds, it looked like she was going to try and persuade her sister to let her stay, but she decided against it and silently walked outside, her head hanging low. Celestia was looking at the ground until she heard the door closing behind her sister. Then, she raised her head and looked at me with tear-filled eyes.

I wasn't expecting that either.

"I hate having to keep secrets from her... It feels so wrong..." she said in a pained voice.

"Welcome to the club," I whispered ironically, somewhat enjoying to see her feeling a fraction of what I felt.

She stayed silent for a handful of seconds before she continued. "Did you know that prior to your arrival, Discord came to see me to know if he could bring you back from your world to Equestria?"

"I didn't and I don't really care. I suppose he said a sob story and that-"

"I was against it."

Truly, that conversation was playing with expectations. Seriously, I would have nearly bet my soul on Celestia, the nice, warm, gentle and fair leader of the ponies would being favorable to my coming to this world. Good thing that I'm not a gambling guy.

"Why?" I asked, confused, and a little bit worried. "What the fuck did he tell you about me?"

"He... Discord told me that you brought the end of your world."

My heart skipped a beat. I swear that I heard Kay chuckling darkly behind my ears, and I was horrified. Just what exactly did Celestia know about me? About Kay? About the Whispers? Why would that fucking bastard Discord tell something like this to her? I didn't bring the end of anything! And neither could have Kay and the Whispers, seeing as we were nanoseconds away from dying when that asshole of a draconequus came to save us!

Furthermore, it sounded a lot like the insanity those sons of bitches were thinking about me back in the Institute. I looked at Celestia's eyes and found the same deep fear that they were feeling when they were looking at me, only, without the madness their crazy cult leader had put inside their tiny brains. She feared me, yes, but she was only worried. She wasn't planning to use me for something else, let they did. Still, I felt the same disgust coming to me.

It had never truly made sense to me why they were keeping me alive on Earth if they thought I was some sort of demon that meant to destroy everything they held dear. Not until our very last moments on Earth, when that bastard on the other side of the screen started to say something about bringing a new Age or something like that. They were using me. They had kept me alive, imprisoned me and sometimes outright tortured me to use me and the Gate for something.

At that very instant, I was afraid that Celestia would try to do the same thing. That simple idea brought a cold, bitter furor to my head. Never again, I thought. I won't let that happen again.

Clearly, I thought about just gathering Recto's belongings and mine and to just leave this place, never to return. We had an entire world to at our disposition, now, I could find a place where none had heard about me and where none would immediately identify me as a world-ending force of destruction. But then, I thought about our acquaintances in Ponyville, about Recto's friends. Leaving them behind would devastate him, and that wasn't something I would do while I had the choice.

So, I thought of the next best thing.

"Let me go," I finally uttered after what seemed like an eternity. She looked at me, uncertain. "Let me go, and we'll never speak of this again. I won't hold a grudge, I'll go to your stupid Gala, and then I'll be back to Ponyville. This conversation will never have happened."

"But-"

"But if I ever feel you are treating me like those bastards did on Earth again... If you ever hurt my brother again... Then all bets are off."

"Verso, I'm so sorry..."

"I don't care. We could have been friend, your Highness, but I don't think we will be able to as long as you are afraid of me. Now, please, let me go."

I felt a wonderful warmth surrounding my body. The ice melt down quickly around me and the resulting water was being directed toward the throne's foutains. The warmth spell changed once I was free and dried me in an instant. I cracked my hands, both to check that the freezing cold hadn't done too much damage to my motor skills and to make the white alicorn flinch. When I was done checking for injuries, I bowed in front of Celestia.

"Your Majesty."

And I walked out. On the way out, I saw the guards waiting outside for their permission to get back in and protect the most unkillable creature in Equestria, but Luna was nowhere to be seen. I think that she went moping in her room, rather than staying and exposing her feelings of betrayal to her sister and working it out.

I don't know if you've noticed, but I know my stuff about siblings betraying each other.

Chapter 23: The Gravity of the Subject

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 24: Gossip

I woke up abruptly, reflexively sitting up in the bed and breathing in as if I had forgotten to do so for far too long. I didn't recognize the room for a few moments and my memory was hazy. Then, I heard his voice.

Everything is okay, Recto, calm down.

"Where are... What happened?"

In our room, in the Palace in Canterlot. Are you feeling alright? he asked, worried. No headaches, anything?

"I... I'm alright, I think. I just... I think I was having a bad dream."

Well, it's alright now, he said, and I felt his mind warming up mine a bit. Felt like a strange, soothing hug. Try and get up. There's a pitcher of chocolate milk on the table. I casted a spell to keep it fresh last night.

"Yay!" I exclaimed, excited as I moved to said heavenly pitcher of goodness.

I drank a glass and sat down, the bad feeling from the dream having already melted away. Chocolate does that.

So, what's the last thing you remember? Verso asked when our heart regained its normal beat.

"I'm... not sure. I remember that mister Prince Blueblood took us to meet one of his friends, that you talked with him a little bit and after that it becomes... fuzzy."

'Fuzzy'?

"Fuzzy," I confirmed with a nod. "So, do you know what happened?"

We passed out of exhaustion, apparently. I woke up yesterday in the beginning of the afternoon, but you didn't. I was worried...

"There, there, I'm awake now, don't you worry." I gulped down another glass. Blessed be the creator of this divine liquid. "So you had to spend a whole afternoon all by yourself, huh? Is Luna mad at you again?"

No!.. I mean, possibly, but I didn't do anything to suffer this reaction. I spent the day writing in here about boring sciency stuff and Luna helped me to meet one the ponies' biggest scientists. And he had a ridiculous name.

"Really? What is it?"

'Giggle Neighton', he said, chuckling.

I laughed a bit more. "He's named 'Professor Giggle'? That hilarious!"

Yes- No, what? No! The funny thing is his last name: Neighton!

I blinked. "I don't see how that's funny. It's just a name."

Verso hesitated. It's a horse pun around the name of Sir Isaac Newton!.. You know who Newton is, don't you?

"Is he the inventor of the chocolate milk?"

No!

"Then I have absolutely no idea. Who's that?"

It's... Oh, forget it. Anyway, we will probably meet him and several of his friends during the Gala, tonight. I'll have to take over when we do, it's important. I'll try to keep it short, though.

I nodded, sipping on yet another glass. I then quickly got ourselves ready and went to the breakfast room where we usually meet up with miss Princess Celestia and Luna. Sure enough, both of them were here, having a energetic discussion. That is, until they realized that we were here. Then, they instantly stopped talking and stared at us. That was creepy.

"Good morning!" I said, waving at them. "How are you doing today?"

Miss Princess Celestia opened her mouth but no sound came out, so Luna answered instead. "Rather well, Recto. Are you feeling alright? Verso was quite worried about you."

"Did he get you worried too?" I asked as I sat down. "I just think mister Prince Blueblood's lesson were so crushingly boring that our body just chose to sleep instead of taking another one. Was he upset about this? He tends to get upset over little things."

"I have not heard about him since yesterday."

"Oh. Well, I guess it's alright, then. I do feel bad for the pony he was making us meet, though. Must be awkward to have one of your guests simply fall asleep like that."

They glanced at each other. "He... didn't seem to mind," miss Princess Celestia said, her voice strangely hoarse. Get it? Hoarse! Because she's a- oh, you got it. Okay then. Moving on.

"So, the Gala is tonight, right?" I asked, changing the topic and grabbing something to eat.

"It is", Celestia confirmed. "In fact, I have some news for you," she continued, taking a letter out of... somewhere. "Twilight sent me a letter yesterday night, to say that Spike, Rarity and herself will come too."

"Really? But, miss Twilight told me that she didn't like it..."

"Methinks that she does not want her new pupils to be left alone on such an occasion," Luna said, smirking.

"But... She was mad at us when miss Princess Celestia took us to Canterlot a few days ago! And I thought the whole Gala thing was part of Verso's punishment for telling miss Twilight and you that he brought us to the castle to read books?"

"Doesn't seem to stop her. She apparently missed you both while you were here."

"Really?" I felt weird, half-bad for making miss Twilight a bit sad, and half-happy for... making miss Twilight a bit sad? It was confusing, okay?

"By the way," Verso intervened, making miss Princess Celestia flinch, "while we're talking mail, how does the whole 'Spike mail' works?"

Why are you interested in that?

Are you telling me you wouldn't like to be writing-buddies with Twilight and Spike?

You've got a point.

"It's a complicated process," miss Pearly Pony Princess answered. "Dragon fire is magical to begin with, and, when properly trained, it is possible to cast an interesting transportation spell on small, burnable objects."

"That's convenient."

"But how do you actually send a message to Spike? As far as I've seen, you don't use the same process in reverse."

"You are right," Luna answered. "My sister had to create a link with little Spike when Princess Twilight was studying under her. She connected me to it soon after my return to Equestria. We then use a specially crafted spell to transport the message."

"Could you connect us to that link too? Would be useful to have a direct line with him."

Princess Celestia nodded. "Come here."

I stood up and walked next to miss Princess Celestia. Her horn lit up and she touched our forehead with it. I felt a little spark buzzing between the horn and our skull, and it was over. Verso felt like he was looking around the interior of our body for a sec, looking for the change.

"That's it?"

"What were you expecting?" the white princess replied, sipping on her cup of tea.

Verso metaphorically shrugged, and I sat back in our sit.

"So what now? Do we just wish the letter away and that's it?"

"Basically. Try not to abuse it."

Oh, and here I wanted to spam Twilight about her long-lost Saddle-Arabian Prince of a cousin...

What?

Nevermind. We'll test that later, when we have Spike around.

I nodded. "Did you have anything you wanted us to do today, apart from the Gala and all that?"

Luna glanced at her sister. "We wanted to talk to you about the books that you are writing."

"Books? What books?"

The ones I've written yesterday.

"Oh, yeah, those ones. What about them?"

"We discussed it before you arrived," miss Princess Celestia said, "and we had some concerns."

Of course...

"Do you think it is safe to give us that knowledge?" Luna asked. "You told us your people destroyed your world with it."

"You're looking at it the wrong way, your Highnesses," Verso said, strangely polite for once. "Knowledge is but a tool. I'm not going to tell you what to do with anything. That's up to your ponies. The humans used it to blow things up, yes, but also to create wonders. And I can assure you, had humans had access to magic and the knowledge you possess about it, we would have found a way to blow everything up with it too."

"You said last night that you thought that printing these books was not enough to meet your financial goals and that you had other ideas," Luna said. "Could you tell us what these are?"

"I have two in mind, mainly. First, depending on how my meeting with Professor Neighton and his colleagues goes tonight, I was thinking about organizing paying lectures rather than just writing everything. Would occupy a few days a month at most, and I could make the tickets expensive enough to live off this."

"If it is too expensive, no one is going to come, you know?" Luna pointed out.

"Is that so? You think that Twilight would miss something like that? You think that Neighton and his friends would miss out such a valuable source of information?" Verso replied, grinning. "They will pester you into giving them the necessary budget to get there until you break. Well, Twilight might pester me about letting her come free of charge, but since I'm an asshole, I won't let her."

"You are... You are terrible," Luna said, smirking as well.

"I try."

"And you said you had another idea?" miss Princess Celestia pressed on.

"This one will take some more time, but I may actually build stuff using my more practical knowledge, patent it and then make it commercialized by a local company. It would take more of our time, though. But I figure it could also be fun."

Miss Princess Celestia seemed to contemplate the idea for a moment.

"What kind of 'stuff' are you talking about exactly?"

"No weapons, if that is what you had in mind, your Highness." Miss Princess Celestia seemed quite uneasy about him calling her like that. I wonder why? "And I don't really know. You barely have lightbulbs working with electricity, and I don't think you have many efficient ways of generating power in the first place. Maybe I'll work on a power generator first? Or maybe on some damn pens to use rather than your shitty quills."

Luna's expression got all 'I have no idea what you're talking about but I'll pretend that I do' and miss Princess Celestia's got thoughtful again, allowing us to eat before we had to reply again.

"We'll let you do as you wish, then, but on one condition," the elder princess finally declared.

Verso sighed. "Which is?"

"I want you to submit to us a report describing how your 'inventions' work and what their effects are before you try and patent them. If either of us deems it unsafe for Equestria, you'll either correct the source of the problem or stop working on that particular project altogether. Is that fine by you?"

Verso got silent, his mind considering miss Princess Celestia's proposition for a few seconds before he finally sighed and agreed. The Princess smiled happily and we resumed our conversation, Verso taking his place at the back of our mind as usual. We somehow drifted back to the Gala and Miss Princess Celestia suddenly looked like she had the greatest revelation of all time.

"Oh, my! I almost forgot!"

Her horn lit up and a golden ticket apeared our of thin air. I immediately started to drool in hope that one of my greatest dreams was about to come true.

"This is your ticket to the Gala tonight," she said, crushing my dreams and giving us the little golden piece of disappointment.

"Why do we even need one? Can't you just tell to the guy that lets people in that the only human in existence is going to that party?" And why do you make everything out of fucking gold?

"Are you just unable to take it without whining?" Luna muttered, and I was unable to hold my snicker in. "On another note," she continued louder as she conjured as little pouch in existence, "I remember that you are rather short in terms of currency?" she said as she levitated the pouch to us.

Verso looked somewhat irritated at her. "And I remember telling you that I refused any direct payment from the Crown?"

"Oh, it is not a 'Royal Donation'. This comes from my personal treasury, and I count on you to give it all back in due time," she said matter-of-factly.

"I'll keep a checklist of our spendings, then," Verso replied, still sounding unhappy about it. He snatched the pouch from midair and used his sense field to count the coins inside. "And I suppose a 'thank you' is in order."

"Indeed, it is," Luna said, grinning wider as Verso's started to glare daggers at her.

He stayed silent for a rather awkward amount of time, not letting our eyes away from Luna's, who kept grinning.

Are you going to say it?

His eye twitched. "Thank you, Princess Luna," he finally said between our teeth.

She looked deeply amused by his antics and her smile widened a bit. "You are most welcome, Verso."

We finished eating and excused ourselves soon after to go back to our room. Having nothing to do all day was both a bit boring so I decided to go and wait for miss Twilight and the others by visiting the palace and its surrounding a bit more thouroughly than we previously had. In the following few hours, I befriended a couple birds and a squirrel, discovered the guards' training grounds, some sort of big arena that a passerby told us had been used in the past for friendly jouts between ponies, managed to get ourselves permanently banned from the kitchens, and got lost in a labyrinth, forcing Verso to get us out.

It was fun.

And sadly, before I could find another activity that would have probably been loads of fun, a group of guards came to tell us that miss Twilight, miss Rarity and Spike had arrived. They escorted us to our friends in record time, but none of them reacted to my jokes, so it was boring. At least, until they made us enter a huge bedroom where our pony friends and Spike were.

"Hello guys!" I said, waving.

They turned their heads in my direction and smiled, waving back while I reached them. I noticed that miss Rarity was levitating a few cover bags.

"We really weren't expecting you to come! I thought you didn't like the Gala?"

"Last time was awful, but it doesn't mean it will always be that terrible," miss Twilight said. She then took a more sheepish expression. "Besides, since I'm a princess now, it is expected of me to be present."

"And of course, dears, we couldn't just let you experience something like the Gala all alone," miss Rarity said.

I blushed a bit. "That's really nice of you."

"And lastly, I wouldn't have been able to give you this!" she continued as she levitated one of her cover bags to us.

I grabbed it carefully and looked at her, confused. "What-"

"It's your suit for the Gala tonight!" she answered, beaming.

I blinked. I opened our mouth. I closed it. I looked at the bag. I looked at miss Rarity. I opened our mouth again.

"That's... I don't know what to say... Thank you!"

"It's alright, dear. I just couldn't let you go to such an important event dressed like a bag of potatoes."

"You made the clothes we are wearing, you know that?"

She nodded. "Of course, I do, but these things are not made to go to a formal party."

"Okay. How much do we owe you?"

Miss Rarity blinked. "You don't owe me anything, dear. It's a gift."

"Doesn't matter, I'll find a way to pay you back. Again."

"You really don't-"

"You can't expect me not to repay you after you've been so generous to us, Rarity. This isn't debatable. I'm sure Recto agrees on this, right?"

"Yeah! You've been so nice to us and we didn't do much to repay you. Please, let us do that!"

"Well, I don't think I would be able to make you change you mind now, would I?"

"Nope."

"Nope. Now, let's get that suit a proper look."

I opened the bag and I felt our eyes starting to shine in excitement. It was beautiful! A three-pieces black suit just like in the movies. Felt like it was what James Bond would wear. Only needed a funny-sounding gun, a diabolical genius mad scientist and whatever a martini is to become the legend.

"So pretty~! Can't wait to try it on!"

"Please do. I may have to make final adjustments to it," miss Rarity said.

I nodded and quickly found a side-room were I changed into the best-looking clothes we had ever put on yet. Only one little problem, though: a dumb piece of fabric neither of us had any idea what to do with. Since miss Rarity would have probably known, we went back to the main room. Both the girls smiled widely when they saw us, and I couldn't help but blush.

"It looks simply fantastic on you, dears!" Miss Rarity commented as she started to inspect us.

"Y-yes, it does, thank you," I squeaked, my voice deciding on its own to try and get to miss Fluttershy's level.

"Oh, look at you, all flustered," she continued, chuckling.

"I... We just wanted to know, what's that supposed to be?" I asked, pointing at the surplus of fabric she had give us, trying to change the subject.

"Hmm? You don't know?"

"Nah, and neither does Verso."

"That's your bow tie, of course!" miss Rarity explained.

Verso and I figuratively glanced at each other, before I got another look at the black piece of silk. I then looked at miss Rarity, who smiled back at us.

"Aren't bow ties supposed to be those butterfly-thingies people wear around their neck? That doesn't look like a butterfly," I said, putting empa... amfa... illustrating my words by pointing at the so-called 'bow tie'.

"Well, of course it doesn't, you have to tie it properly first. Let me show you."

Miss Rarity's horn lit up and she levitated the black thing out of our hand and around our neck, folding it onto itself until it somehow magically transformed into what I could recognize as a bow tie. While I was looking at our reflexion in a nearby mirror, I could only think one thing.

Man, bow ties look dumb.

Happy to see that we agree on that.

But, I can't tell to miss Rarity that I don't like it! She made it just for us!

Well... As much as I hate to say it, this kind of dumbfuckery is expected on a formal party. I think it's better to just roll with it.

But I would have to lie to her! I don't like lying...

Not necessarily. It's not lying if you don't talk about it in the first place, is it?

I nodded at his silent response and smiled at miss Rarity. She frowned.

"Is there a problem, Recto?" she asked.

I blinked. She's onto me! I panicked. What do I do? What do I do?!

Verso, far from helping, started to snicker before he got into a proper laughing fit the more I was panicking, unable to answer miss Rarity's inquiry.

"I... Huh... No! Nothing! It's perfectly fine! No problem of any kind!" I answered, looking around and hoping to find something to distract her.

"Really?" she asked, her frown deepening into a dubious stare. "You wouldn't try to hide anything from me, now, would you?"

"N-No! Why would I ever do that?" I felt my smile falter.

"Tell me," she ordered.

"No?" I squeaked.

"Tell me tell me tell me!" she repeated, her stare becoming too insistant for me to ignore.

"Okay!" I finally cried out. I then took a sudden interest in the ground, as looking up would have meant looking into miss Rarity's eyes. "I..." I suddenly had a great idea that could arrange the bow tie problem without making me at odd with miss Rarity. "Verso doesn't like bow ties!" I blurted.

What? Did you just... Did you just use me as a scapegoat?!

Miss Rarity's stare mellowed, and she smiled kindly at us. "Oh, that's not a problem, dear. Look, we can just replace it with a normal tie," she said, turning around to snatch another piece of fabric out of somewhere. "And I must say, Verso, it is quite mean of you to put your brother into such stress over such trivial business."

I... But I... What?

I'm sorry! I pleaded silently to him as miss Rarity untied the dumb, evil-looking bow tie and replaced it by a much better formal tie. I didn't want her to be angry with me!

Oh, don't worry, there will be retribution... he replied in the happy-threatening tone he uses to warn me about incoming pranks from his side.

I shivered in apprehension. I also got a better look at our reflexion with the superior neck-wear-thingy and smiled happily. Much, much better. I knelt down to properly hug miss Rarity.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

She chuckled. "That's nothing, dear," she replied. "Now, if you could release me, you're going to crease your suit."

I let her go and miss Twilight looked at us. "So, I'm curious, how bad was Princess Celestia's punishment for you two?" she asked, a smile forming on her face.

"It was really, really boring," I answered. "Miss Princess Celestia forced us to get lessons from her nephew, mister His Highness Prince Blueblood, about how to act during the Gala."

Miss Rarity went wide-eyed. "With this ruffian?" she gasped. "Please tell me you're not going to follow his advices!"

I blinked. "You know him?"

"Sadly, I do," she answered, her voice growing deep. "He is nothing but a dreadful, ill-mannered, rude excuse of a unicorn noble!" she nearly hissed. "How Princess Celestia could have thought that somepony like him could properly teach you in any manner is above me!"

"To be fair, that wasn't really Celestia's intention to begin with," Verso interjected. At miss Rarity's raised eyebrow, he continued. "Remember that it was a punishment. She forced us to stay with him for three, horrendous, days. I could already take care of myself before she decided to torture us via this prick, thank you very much."

"Yes... I do keep forgetting that this whole affair is supposed to be a punishment for you somehow..."

"Speaking of which, I trust that you learned your lesson?" miss Twilight asked, her face taking as more serious expression.

"Oh, heavens, not that again..." Verso sighed. "No,I won't go and wander in 'dangerous, ancient locations' on my own again." At least, not with that stupid bug following us... "There, happy?"

"Mostly, yes," miss Twilight giggled.

"But you haven't spent all of your time with Blueblood, right?" Spike asked. "What else have you been doing?"

"We've been exploring!" I answered happily, describing our latest discoveries. "Oh, and Verso's been writing boring books too."

"You've been writing?" miss Twilight asked, tiling her head. "I didn't know you were much a writer."

"That would be because I'm not, Princess Purple," Verso replied, smirking when miss Twilight glared at him. "But I have an exhaustive knowledge of human scientific discoveries and theories since the age of stone, so I've started to write it down."

"You've WHAT?!" she cried, suddenly rushing right in front of us, a frantic look on her face. Verso stepped back, startled, and she kept following us. "You've always stayed infuriatingly vague about your people's knowledge when I have been asking you about it and you're telling me that you've been doing that on PURPOSE?!" Verso had reached a wall when she shouted that last word in our face.

"Uh... Why do I have the slightest impression that you might be upset?"

"UPSET?!" she screamed at us, her pupils turning into pinpricks. "I'M NOT UPSET!"

"'Could have fooled me..." Verso muttered.

"I'M... I'M... I'm incredibly excited!" miss Twilight finally rectified, her scowl turning into one of the biggest smile I have ever seen.

Her horn lit up and she conjured multiple stacks or paper, as well as an impressive amount of pencils. Of course, most of it ended into Spike's hand, who only had the time to cry in surprise before he was buried under writing supplies, not that miss Twilight seemed to notice, as her gleeful smile only grew bigger when she levitated something to write with. To be absolutely honest, there was something in her stare that I felt was a little disturbing. Verso gulped down.

"I want to know everything!"

"Calm down, Purple Pony Princess," Verso said. "I've only just wrote a couple tomes and-"

"YOU HAVE TWO BOOKS FINISHED ALREADY?!" she squealed in delight. "Where are they? I want to read them!"

"I've lent them to someone I-"

"Who?!"

"Professor Giggle Neighton, but-"

"You've met Professor Neighton?!" she screamed, looking positively crazy.

She looked like she was about to explode in glee, and given that I still don't know jack about magic, it could have been within the realm possibilities, for all I know. Verso was mentally reviewing all of the protection spells we knew, after all. Miss Rarity and Spike seemed to notice too, and thankfully came to our help in calming down the hysterical alicorn.

"Twilight, dear, calm down! You're making the poor soul nervous!"

"Yeah, you look half as hysterical as the week you got subscribed to the Encyclopedia Ponyversalis!"

Verso groaned and rolled our eyes, before he tried to slowly push miss Twilight away. "If you could let me finish my sentences, I'd be thankful, thank you very much."

Miss Twilight blushed and smiled sheepishly at us. "Sorry! I... got a little over excited, I think."

"Yeah, 'a little', alright," Spike muttered under his breath, making me snicker.

"Now that I can talk without being interrupted, I was saying that I had only written down two books at the moment. Princess Luna introduced me to Professor Neighton, and we decided to meet again tonight, during the Gala, after he had been able to review my work a little bit." He looked at miss Twilight and smirked at her nearly drooling expression. "I take it that you would like to join our meeting?"

"Yes!" she screamed, before she blushed again and cleared her throat. "I'd... I'd like to, yes."

Verso shrugged. "Be my guest, then." He looked at the two other persons in the room. "Is anyone else interested, by any chance?"

Miss Rarity shook her head. "As far as I figure it could be interesting to listen to, I fear that I would probably be lost in your technical mumbo-jumbo. Unless you were to speak about more culture-oriented aspects of your people?"

"That's not the plan, no." He looked at Spike next. "And I suppose you wouldn't be interested either, Spike?"

"Nah. Sounds like it's gonna be on the level of Twilight's experiments, and I want to do as little as possible with that kind of things."

"When does the Gala even start, to begin with?" I asked.

"Princess Celestia does the opening speech for the Gala at six," miss Twilight said. "It's only one pm."

I opened our mouth to ask what exactly we were going to do until it started when our stomach growled. I blushed, and the girls giggled at my embarrassment. We decided that having lunch would definitely be a better occasion to keep talking, and I went to change back into our more normal set of clothes. Once I was done, miss Rarity told us about a nice place in town where we could have lunch and we headed outside of the Palace.

Soon after we had exited the Palace, I felt Verso growing both annoyed and apprehensive and I started to look a bit more at our surroundings. Our little group was far from being all alone in the streets, and while most of the passerby simply ignored us and went about their day, a good portion of them were staring at us -as in, Verso and I- and were whispering to each other, some pointing at a pile of paper they had with them. When we passed next to a stand with a lot of these piles of paper inside it, miss Rarity stopped, levitated a bit out of her saddlebag into a slot in the stand, and took one of the piles. Verso's anxiety level shot up.

"I didn't have time to get one this morning," she explained, unfolding the pile of paper and letting us see that it had colored pictures and writing all over it.

Recto, I just remembered that I have something to tell them, Verso told me just as she started to look at the cover. Alone.

What? Why?

It's, huh... It's a surprise! he said quickly, as miss Rarity's expression was turning into a shocked one. Clearly, these piles of paper must have contained many secrets. You wouldn't want to ruin a surprise, would you?

Absolutely not! But, the lunch...

I'll do my best to wake you up in time for lunch.

Very well, then. 'Night!
Sleep well, Recto.

***

Of course, they had to learn about it sooner or later. One simply isn't suspected of one of the most terrible crimes in the Equestrian law without it making its way into the news, after all. I felt bad having to force Recto to sleep after he had already spent half a day unconscious, but there was simply no way that I could have damage controlled the situation with him awake.

Rarity paled quite a lot, as much as it seems complicated for an already white miniature horse, and her shocked expression didn't escape her friends' attention.

"Rarity? What's wrong?" Spike asked.

"I... Uh..." she blabbered, still a bit too stuned to form a coherent response.

"May I?" I asked as I levitated the newspaper to myself, making her flinch.

I didn't have to look that far into the Canterlot Times to find what she had read exactly. It was on the first page, as I had guessed. 'Count Boddy murdered! The human visitor found covered in blood on the crime scene!'. I was honestly surprised that it didn't straight up accused me of the murder, but I seemingly ended up in a universe where the press keeps to the facts, not to the speculation. It was still pretty bad, though. Glancing at Rarity, I could say she was more than a bit apprehensive of my presence next to her. I was about to start explaining when I remembered that Spike, the baby dragon, was right there too.

"Spike, how old are you again?" I asked, locating some sort of gem vendor with a conveniently long waiting queue.

"What? Well, I..."

"Doesn't really matter, in fact," I interrupted him, floating a couple shiny bits into his hands. "Why don't you go and buy yourself some shiny rock over there?" I told him, pointing at the previously mentioned shop.

"Just before lunch?"

"Keep it for your dessert if you want. We'll wait for you."

"What are you-" Twilight started, thankfully interrupted by Rarity, who realized what I was doing.

"Go for it, Spike," she advised, flashing him a smile.

Confused about wether he should be happy or not about this opportunity, he nonetheless decided to cash it in and left the three of us alone. I couldn't help but wonder if I should really put 'three bits used to prevent mental scarring on a young dragon' on the list of my spendings of Luna's money. As soon as I estimated that he was out of earshot, I turned to face Twilight, who looked just as lost as her scaley assistant.

"What are you two doing?" she asked.

"This may help you understand a bit more," I told her as I handed her the newspaper. She paled as soon as she read the headline.

"You were at a murder scene!?" she squeaked in shock. "Are you okay?"

I've gotta admit, I didn't anticipate this question. I was more expecting something of a 'What have you done?'. It left me wordless for an instant, and she took that time to cast a magical checking spell on me. When she was assured that I wasn't hiding any injury, she relaxed somewhat.

"We're both somewhat fine, but this topic is to be avoided while Recto is awake," I said tapping on my temple to put emphasis on my words. "I just barely managed to convince him to 'leave' the front seat quickly enough to avoid a rather bad situation."

"What happened?" Rarity asked, equally worried.

"Blueblood brought us to meet Count Boddy yesterday, and we blacked out because of a sudden surprise migraine. I managed to get Recto to wake up first while I was fixing the problem, and he found the Count's corpse still leaking blood." I looked away. "He... didn't really realize what was going on and tried to put pressure on the wound, getting blood on our hands just before the cops arrived and arrested us."

"Poor thing!" Rarity gasped. I nodded.

"He gave his testimony, and the Princesses let us out. After a few words with the princesses, he began to realize just what had happened and started a mental breakdown. I woke up just in time to help him to sleep to prevent further injuries to his psyche, and he subsequently forgot the whole story." I looked at them it the eyes. "I fear his problem may happen again if he is reminded of this story, so I ask for your cooperation, ladies."

They took a few seconds to assimilate the information, only to finally nod and look at me with what were supposed to be reassuring smiles, I assume. "You can count on us," Twilight said. "We won't talk about it."

"Thank you," I said.

"But... What about the Gala?" Rarity suddenly realizing in just how much trouble I was that night. "The Count was fairly well known, and it's the most shocking news in weeks! Surely, ponies will talk about it during the whole party!"

I waved my hand. "I'll improvise, but I should be fine. I'll be able to distract him enough, I think."

"Are you sure?" I confirmed with a nod, and she tightened her lips. "Well, it can't be helped, now, can it?"

"Nope. On another note, I now need to organize a surprise for Recto."

They looked at me like they would have looked at that horrid pink abomination on one of her more mentally unstable days.

"What-"

"I told Recto I needed him asleep to plan a surprise. I'd hate to disappoint."

"Easy, just go and talk to Pinkie," Spike said, as he came back from his shoping trip with a faceted sapphire the size of my fist in his hands.

This place is somewhat unnerving, sometimes.

"No!" I shouted by sheer reflex, not desiring to go anywhere even remotely near that thing on my own accord. Of course, such a... hearty reaction confused the others. I smiled awkwardly. "It... huh... He would expect Pinkie Pie being the one to through her surprise party?" I tried. "You know, since it's kind of her butt-mark and everything?"

"Your reverence to pony anatomy is charming," Rarity deadpanned. "But still, she is the best party planner that I know of," she continued. "Besides, do you have any reason to throw him a party?"

I blinked at that. Yes, a cover would make it more believable... I thought. But for what occasion? I couldn't think a real reason. No real accomplishment, not any particular event, we were in the end of summer, so a fake Christmas was out of the question, our bir-... I levitated the news paper to me again, looking at the date.

First of August. Heh, wouldn't you know it..."I actually have a legit idea."

"Which is?" Twilight said, as I casually gave the news back to Rarity.

"Well, it looks like our Earthern Calendar and the Equestrian one aren't synchronized. Our birthday is next week."

"What?" the little trio cried. "How could you forget that?"

"As I've said, the calendar changed. For us, it's been nearly four months already. Still, I guess he would appreciate. And it would be surprising."

Rarity nodded. "Very well, then. When exactly is it?"

"On the sixth."

"We'll organize something for you two, be assured."

"Thank you. Now, of course, we never talked about any of this, okay?" I asked them as I prepared to wake Recto up.

"Talked about what?" Spike asked, looking legitimately lost.

"Precisely."

***

Verso woke me up after what felt like an eternity, but we apparently hadn't moved that much. Spike had a shiny rock in his hands, though, and looked like he had just saw someone quacking while being followed by a legion of ducklings passing through. I checked: no ducks were to be found. And that's sad, because ducks are adorable. Once, in Ponyville, I found a whole family of-

Hm? I'm going off topic? Okay, okay, where was I... Oh, yeah, the ducks! No, lunch! Well, before lunch, to be precise. Okay, back on track.

We resumed our way toward a much desired lunch, while miss Rarity abd liss Twilight were trying to awkwardly hold a conversation with me about the Gala and what each of us was going to do. Amusingly, everytime one of them would mention mister Prince Blueblood or our lessons with him, the other would stare intently at the perpetrator and slowly shake her head, causing her to giggle awkwardly and to change the subject. It was hilarious, even more so when Verso simply mindpalmed and grumbled something I couldn't hear.

We quickly reached miss Rarity's restaurant and sat around a table, waiting for the waiter -Ha, ha!- to come by. Other clients were apparently surprised to see us and started whispering with each other, glancing in our direction from time to time. It seemed to make miss Rarity and miss Twilight pretty uncomfortable, but they kept smiling at me. Spike apparently didn't notice anything.

You see that, right? I asked Verso.

Of course, I do. They're probably still surprised to see us. We're the only human they've ever seen, after all.

Yeah, but they make miss Rarity and miss Twilight uncomfortable. We should tell them to stop.

As I was going to voice my conclusion aloud, Verso interrupted me. Let that go, they will continue to stare anyway. Besides, here comes the waiter.

As Verso had said, a pony waiter was coming our way, bringing the menus with him. The thought of the soon to be coming food immediately occupyed my mind. The pony hoofed us the menus and Verso quickly told me which of the dishes weren't poisonous for, letting me choose. I opted for a salad and gave the paper menu back to the strangely sweating pony. I smiled at him to show that I was friendly, but he only looked down on our teeth, gulped down and nearly ran back to the inner restaurant as soon as he got all the orders. I tilted our head, curious.

"Is it just me, or was the waiter sweating quite a lot?" I asked, and the two mares in front of us shared a glance, their awkward smile not leaving their face.

"I didn't notice anything," miss Rarity said.

Maybe it's just hot? Verso proposed.

"No, it's not," I replied aloud. "The temperature is kinda nice."

Maybe for us, but the ponies are quite literally wearing a fur coat.

I glanced at the mares and, sure enough, they looked like they were sweating too. "Is it too hot for you out here? I asked. "Maybe we could find a darker spot."

"Oh, it's fine, Recto," miss Twilight said, giggling weirdly. "We're enjoying one of Celestia's sunny days. It would be rude to hide from the sun, wouldn't it?"

I hadn't considered that. Since the Equestrian weather is manufactured, is it ill-mannered not to show that we enjoy it? I immediately voiced my concernd, and we started to converse about the weather, and how the ponies made it work. We learned that a schedule for the rainy days and other weather events was publicly placated in every pony town. It had rained a couple times since we had arrived in Equestria and the experience was still wonderful. We even got affected by that weird singing magic the ponies had and started to make our own rendition of the old 'Singing in the rain' song. Then, we spent the next day sneezing inside while miss Twilight was chastising us. Verso spent the day thinking about a way to get ourselves immuned to the singing urge, but quickly gave up, as miss Twilight told him that the event remained mysterious even for the ponies themselves.

I'm getting off-track again, ain't I? Well, we were talking about the different kinds of weather that were coming when miss Twilight said something that somehow made Verso nervous:

"What do you mean, 'there's a storm scheduled in three day'?" he said, forcing himself to the front seat.

"Well, the weather ponies missed a rainpour in Ponyville last week and have to counter-balance by making the next one be heavier," miss Twilight explained.

"Why in the seven hells would anyone scheduled a fucking storm?!" he said, clearly upset. "And why are those weather ponies so incompetent?"

"I'll have you know that Rainbow Dash is one of these 'incompetent' weather ponies," miss Rarity scolded.

"Explains a lot, actually..." Verso muttered, just loud enough for Spike and I to snicker.

"Besides, storms are a necessity, now and again," miss Twilight explained. "We need the lightning to-"

"To produce ozone, I know," Verso rudely interrupted her. "I just... I don't like lightning." Everyone else just mouthed a silent 'Oh' of comprehension.

Spike grinned. "Are you saying that you're af-"

"Finish that sentence and we'll find out if you can actually choke on that gem of yours," he nearly growled, making Spike gulp down and renew his interest in his plate.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," miss Twilight said. "Worst case scenario, you can just let Recto take full control and 'go to sleep', right?"

Verso had a sour laugh. "Yeah, I could just do that, right."

The other three shared a glance before we changed the subject. We finished our lunch soon after and the funny sweating waiter came by to get the payment, and we were off once again, heading back to the castle this time. Ponies were staring at us all the way back, of course. It was getting weird. Like, really weird. Thankfully, there weren't anymore staring ponies once we had reached the Palace. Well, the guards were still staring at the wall in front of them, but it was fixated on us anymore, so that was nice. We walked back to the girls' room to pick up our suit, and Verso said that he needed a little bit of time to prepare for the encounter with professor Neighton and his friends later that evening, so we excused ourselves and elected to meet again shortly before the Gala would actually start.

Verso carefully hanged our suit in our room's cabinet before he started to write down some notes on paper with a quill. When he finished, he took a look at the room's clock: five pm. We both agreed that we shoukd take another shower to be perfectly clean in our suit, and so we did. We spent the next hour getting ready and finally headed out, taking Verso's thankfully dried notes under our arm. Just by exiting our room, we could tell that something was definitly going on, as the castle was unusually noisy. We took a slightly broader route by an inner garden to enter the Gala by the big door.

There was a huge file of ponies talking with each other walking in the direction of the Palace's main gates, all dressed up in fancy dresses and suits. Some were even wearing top hats. Hehe, top hats... Anyway, we walked toward the the gates too and handed our ticket to one of the receptionists, who didn't even looked at us as he validated our ticket and allowed us to enter the Gala. I hesitated a second, taking a deep breath in, and stepped in.

Author's Note

And here's the 24th chapter! Only a little bit more than two weeks late! A new record for me! Huzzah!

Seriously, though, I had really planned to publish it before the beginiing of Season 5, but as I was nearly finished, I decided that I didn't like the thing and started all over again. There were supposed to be a lot more ducks originally.

Don't ask.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed reading this chapter! See you on Chapter 25: At the Gala!

Chapter 25: A Certain Scientific Gala part 1

The entry room was an immense stairway that lead to different parts of the castle. Atop the stairs was miss Princess Celestia wearing a dress for once, greeting ponies as they walked in a file in her direction. I would have expected Luna or Miss Twilight to be here too, but a quick glance around the room indicated that they were nowhere to be seen. Next to us was a pony in a fancy costume waiting patiently as the guests came up to him and gave him their tickets to the Gala. He then produced a trumpet, and used it to announce the guests. I walked up to him.

"Hello, mister!" I said to him, excited, as I gave him our ticket.

"Good evening," he answered on an even tone, not even looking our way as he snatched our ticket from our hand. He read over it quickly and played his trumpet. "Ahem! Announcing Recto and Verso, the human!" he called.

I nodded and looked around, smiling, and quickly stopped. Everyone was staring at us, surprised. I blushed heavily. You know these movies where then music ends with a scratch when someone enters the room? It felt a bit like that, but the music was thankfully still going on. I awkwardly waved at them and walked up to miss Princess Celestia, still blushing like a tomato. Strangely enough, every pony in the line moved away from us as we approached the Princess, some of them talking to their neighbour under their breath, not letting us out of their sight for an instant. It was really, really uncomfortable. Not what I was expecting at all.

Nevertheless, I soon reached miss Princess Celestia. She smiled warmly at me, and I felt my discomfort melting away.

"Good evening, you two," she said. "Welcome to the Grand Galloping Gala."

I remembered a few bits of our lessons with mister Prince Blueblood and bowed slightly. "Thank you, miss Your Highness Princess Celestia," I replied. I was nailing it. She smiled and maybe snorted, but I wasn't sure and mister Prince Blueblood had told us that it would be impolite to point it out. "Why isn't Luna with you?"

"Oh, she is probably somewhere," she answered. "It's tradition that I would be the one to welcome the guests on the night of the Gala."

Sounded weird to me. "Doesn't that undermine her presence to the nobility?" Verso asked. "Oh, and good evening."

Miss Princess Celestia shook her head. "Back before her banishment, my sister and I divided this sort of duties. She had a similar party to preside during the winter, back then."

"Oh... That makes sense..."

"What have you brought with you?" she inquired, pointing at the papers I was carrying under our arm.

"These are Verso's notes for our encounter with the science ponies later," I answered.

"Ah, yes. Well, I hope your meeting goes well."

With that she slightly nodded and I walked away, letting the others reach her. I roamed around the party, searching for someone I would recognize. I spotted quite a few guards, but none of them looked like they were up to chat with us. And everyone except for them was looking at us when they thought we couldn't see them. It was really awkward, but I guessed that they were simply curious. Or maybe they were admiring the suit that miss Rarity had made us. That would have been understandable. One of the waiters went by us, carrying strange glasses with some bubbly liquid inside, and I picked it up.

"This is... more boring than I thought..." I whispered to ourselves, taking a sip of the bubbly thing, and wincing. "That thing tastes so bad! What is this?"

Champagne, I'd say. And it's a formal party. What were you expecting?

"Something more... exciting," I answered as I levitated the glass to a nearby table. "Like Pinkie Pie's parties in Ponyville, but, you know, bigger."

Pinkie's parties are more fit for kids' birthdays than to entertain prissy old ponies.

"Yeah, and they're actually fun! There's nothing to do here, except maybe listening to the music. And everyone is staring at us and that's weird!" I said a bit louder, making a couple ponies look away with a falsely innocent air on their face.

You're just bored because you have nothing to do. Keep searching for Twilight and the others.

I grumbled a bit and did just that. I eventually noticed a big door to the gardens and decided to head outside. The sun was already setting, which was weird because it was way to early for that, and I thought that I may find something interesting to do. Maybe the animals would come out and play or something. Maybe I would see the squirrel again! That was an exciting thought. But instead, I found Luna in a dress of her own, levitating a glass of that horrid bubbly thing while she listened to a disturbingly overweight and unhealthy looking old unicorn mare. She caught a glimpse of us, and I saw her glance at the pony that was talking at her before she waved happily in our direction. I went up to her just as the honestly fat pony looked to see just who Luna was waving at. She didn't look so happy to see us.

"Ah, Recto, Verso, how nice of you to come by, and with such a perfect timing too," she said when we were close enough. "Duchess Wideboro here-"

"Actually, it's 'Mareboro', your Highness," the mare corrected, still looking warily at us.

"... Right, Duchess Mareboro was telling me about a business of hers and I thought that your view as an outsider would be helpful." I heard Verso mentally snorting. "What were you just telling me, again?"

The old pony looked unsure, but complied. "I was just telling you how the latest studies have mostly disproved the theories saying that the products my company ungufacture are dangerous for ponies' health, so there wasn't any reason to keep up these silly laws that restrict their distribution!"

"Lady Mareboro here is one of the leader in the production of a mostly plant-based product that apparently helps ponies focus and go on about their day," Luna explained, and Verso plainly chuckled. "What was it called again?"

"Cigarettes, your Majesty."

Now, you may think that I wouldn't know what that word really meant, since these things had disappeared decades before we were even born, but you would be wrong. Remember, Verso and I spent most of our free time reading, and cigarettes were mentioned in a lot of books. And not under a good light in most of them. So I nearly reacted immediately, but, strangely enough, I was reined in by Verso.

Do you mind if I do that one myself?

Well, no, but why would-

You'll see. It should be quite amusing.

I nodded. Okay then, she's yours!

"'Cigarettes', huh?" Verso asked. "What are those things?"

What? I thought you-

Don't worry, I know what I'm doing.

"Oh, it's quite simple, really," the old mare said, smiling slightly. "It was inspired by a buffalo ritual, in fact. They used to burn dried tobacco leaves and breath the smoke produced to calm their nerves. We eventually changed the process to make it easier to use."

"Interesting. You wouldn't happen to have one of those thing one you, by any chance?"

What are you doing?! I nearly shouted.

Come on, trust me. I noticed that Luna was looking at us, quite shocked. Verso discretely winked at her. I'm not going to do anything stupid.

"I do!" the mare said, levitating a small pack out of her purse, and eventually giving us a cigarette.

Verso inspected it quickly, and I must admit I was a bit curious too. They looked just like books would describe them, up to what I assumed was the filter. I really wasn't expecting to find such a thing on Equestria.

"I assume that you're supposed to light up that tip and breath in through the other one?" Verso asked.

"Yes. Do you need-"

"No thanks, I can set stuff on fire easily." He demonstrated by creating a small flame on our fingertips, before putting it off, looking thoughtful. "I wonder... What's inside those, again?"

"Oh, tobacco, mostly, and some stuff to make it taste a bit better."

"Is that so? What sort of 'stuff' are we talking about? Us humans have a lot allergies, I fear, and I'd prefer to know if it could be dangerous to me."

The mare's smile faltered a bit. "Oh, I don't really remember on the tip of my tongue..."

"Oh, don't worry, I happen to have a spell that let's me know what's inside of things."

Verso quickly created a small, concentrated sense field around the cigarette, and took a falsely surprised expression to hide his grin.

"Oh, my. Is that arsenic I feel inside this thing? You use that in rat poison, right? And cyanide too? That's highly poisonous!"

The mare was sweating heavily. "It is, but the quantities are so small that-"

"Oh, and that tobacco plant contains nicotine! I don't know about you ponies, but that's highly addictive to us humans. Would make me smoke these until there's no tomorrow!"

"It's not..."

"And I haven't even lit it up yet! Considering how it is crafted, I assume it must produce quite a bit of nasty things when it burns too!" Verso lit up the cigarette and kept his sensing field in place. "Turns out I was right! It's making carbon monoxyde! Do you ponies know that this stuff gets on your blood cells and prevents you from getting oxygen? And that's discounting a lots of other nasty stuff! You guys know what cancer is?"

"We do not," Luna said, hardly hiding a grin behind a surprised expression. "Please enlighten us, Verso."

"It's complicated, but it's basically a dangerous disease that's provoked when some of your cells mutate and turn into overdrive, and that mutation is triggered by all kind of stuff, like about seventy of the chemicals I'm sensing inside that 'cigarette' right now. And seeing how addictive that thing is, were I to try it, I'd probably 'smoke' it for years to come, long enough to be sure that I'd get that thing. It's bad, really bad."

"W-Well, I..."

"Did you know about all that?" Verso asked, falsely shocked. "You just said that the latest research said it was harmless! Who paid those researchers? They should be fired!"

"I di- I should be going, now..." the mare said. She lightly bowed to Luna and quickly ran away.

Verso and Luna shared a glance, and the three of us couldn't hold it any longer and laughed. Well, some more than the others. Verso and Luna shared a chuckle, really.

"I must thank you, Verso," Luna said as Verso snuffed out the cigarette and threw it in a nearby bin. "She had been trying to persuade me to change laws in her favor for quite some time by now."

"No problem, her face was quite amusing to watch."

"I must ask, though, was all those things you said true? It sounded gruesome."

Verso shrugged. "It was, mostly. Cancer and addiction are a bit more complicated than I portrayed. But seriously, regulate the shit out of this trash."

Luna nodded. "My sister made these laws concerning them for a reason. But enough of this, are you enjoying yourselves?"

"Nah, it's boring," I said, taking back the front place.

"Oh, I doubt it will last. My sister usually sets up events to distract herself from the innate boredom of these parties. I wonder what she did this year..."

"Well, she invited us," I pointed out. "And everyone has been staring at us weirdly since we arrived. Are we supposed to be the distraction? Because if that's the case, I'll go and find the closest chocolate fountain and put up a real distraction!"

"Please, say something to stop him from doing that."

"You won't stop me, Verso! It's my destiny!"

Luna chuckled. "Would it not stain your suit, though?"

I blinked, and look at ourself. "Damn, you're right."

Language.

I rolled our eyes, and smirked. "I'll just have to get them off before I dive into the chocolate thingy."

Verso growled and mindpalmed, while Luna was visibly trying to decide whether or not I was serious. She --wisely-- decided to drop the subject and pointed at Verso's notes. "You have brought something with you," she noted.

"Yeah, Verso said he could use some support for his 'meeting' later. So I have to carry them around until he no longer needs them."

She nodded. "Speaking of that, have you already seen professor Neighton?"

"Nah," Verso answered. "I should have organized that better. I have actually no idea when or where we are supposed to meet up during the Gala."

"Same thing with miss Twilight and the others," I remarked. "I'd have thought she would be around miss Princess Celestia, but she isn't. Did you see her?" I asked the lunar princess. "She wanted to come to Verso's boring thing."

"I have not," she answered. "And seeing as I have nothing better to do, let us search for her together!" she exclaimed happily, raising a hoof in the air.

Verso felt perplex. "Shouldn't you... I don't know, 'mingle with the upper crust' or something like that?"

Luna nodded. "I probably should, indeed," she confirmed, sipping on her drink. "But that is far more boring than forming a miniature search party. Let the hunt begin!"

She walked back into the party proper, leaving us a bit behind. Luna seemed in an incredibly good mood, for some reason. I wonder why? I quickly caught up to her and started to look around for the Purple Pony Princess. Ponies were still looking at us and whispering between each other, but I didn't really care about that anymore.

"How many of these did you even drink?" Verso asked, glancing at Luna's weirdly shaped glass.

"That is not a question that I will answer," she replied, smiling. "By the way, do you mind if I intrude into your little encounter? It does sound as if some interesting discussions are about to be made."

Verso raised an eyes brow. "You didn't understand a few pages of my books. No offense, but I don't think you have the knowledge required to follow."

Luna scoffed. "I am certain that you would be able to explain most of these theories in an understandable manner. Besides," she added, muttering, "it would still be more appreciable than listening to another one of these stuck-up jerks that dare to call themselves 'nobles'."

That sounded a bit mean, but neither of us said anything. We walked around the rooms for a few minutes, Luna and I discussing while Verso stayed mostly silent, until I heard someone trying to catch our attention from behind us. When I turned around, I discovered an aging beige pony that was trotting in our direction, wearing what even I could see was an outdated tuxedo. He was also carrying a couple piles of paper sheets on his back, somehow not dropping them. He seemed rather annoyed.

That's professor Neighton, Verso indicated in my mind.

He looks about as boring as I thought.

Verso grinned, amused, and we waited for the older pony to meet up with us. When he got near enough, I also noticed bags under his eyes, as well as some hints that he was rather tired. Nonetheless, a spark of interest and passion gleamed in his eyes when he met ours.

"Mister Verso!" he exclaimed. "I'm happy to have found you so quickly. A few more minutes around these bigots and I would have probably started to lose my mind."

Did he call you 'mister'?

"It is nice to see you tonight, professor," Luna said cheerfully.

Mister professor Neighton blinked at her, as if he hadn't even realized that Luna had been here before, and slightly nodded. "Your Highness." He turned his attention back to us. "I have finished reading through your work, sir, and it is even beyond what I expected when we met last night!" he said, an excited smile forming on his face. "I have so many questions!"

Verso raised our handn calming the pony down. "It's a pleasure too, professor Neighton, but I'd prefer if you held them for later. Did you contact your acquaintances?"

The old pony looked a bit saddened, but nodded. "Yes. Sadly, only three of them could come here in such a short notice."

"Thank you. I am currently looking for Princess Twilight Sparkle, who wanted to join us."

He looked a bit confused. "Princess Tw... Oh, yes. I'm still not used to having so many princesses. So Princess Twilight is coming too? I've heard of her. She has a solid head on her shoulders."

I looked at Luna. "You're coming too, right?"

She nodded. "Of course. It's much too promising for me to miss."

When I looked back at mister professor Neighton, he looked a bit confused, again. "Did your voice..."

"Oh, silly me, I forgot that you didn't know much about me yet," Verso said. "You see, I am not exactly 'alone' in my head. This body actually hosts two persons: myself, of course, and my brother, Recto."

"Hi! I'm Recto, nice to meet you!"

Mister professor Neighton looked even more confused, but mostly interested. "You have some form a multiple personality disorder?"

I felt Verso getting annoyed when the professor asked that, but he said nothing of it. "It's more complicated than this, in that we aren't different parts of a same person, but two completely different souls. It's... complicated, really."

The older pony nodded slowly, seemingly a bit dubious. He then suddenly got an excited look on his face. "Does this Recto knows as much as-"

"Not even close," I said. "Verso is the only one to know about all this sciency stuff. It always was much too boring for me to listen to those classes."

"Oh..." he said, disappointed.

"Anyway, we were searching for the last princess. Would you come along?" Verso asked as we resumed our search for Equestria's most purple princess.

We looked around the main ballroom and continued our hunt towards the entrance, hoping that we could catch her as soon as she would enter the Gala. Meanwhile, Verso and the professor were discussing some mathematical nonsense about imaginary numbers, as if the normal ones weren't boring enough already. Thankfully, I spotted our target before it really got out of hand: Twilight and the others were walking in our direction, chatting quietly. They were wearing what I assume were considered dresses for ponies, and nice-looking ones at that. Except for Spike, of course, who was wearing a classy little tuxedo. I was just wondering why miss Twilight was also wearing saddlebags.

"Hey! Miss Twilight!" I called, waving at her.

She turned her head in our direction when I called her, smiled excitedly, said something to her friends, and left them to walk gleefully in our direction. And she somehow managed to smile even wider when she spotted mister professor Neighton next to us. It was on the level on Pinkie's smiles, to be exact.

"Good evening, Recto, Verso," she said, badly containing her own glee. "And it's nice to see you again, Princess Luna," she added with a small nod.

"The pleasure is mutual, Princess Twilight," Luna said, returning the gesture. "I do not believe you have met Professor Neighton yet?" she continued, gesturing toward the old pony with a wing.

He bowed slightly, like he had done for Luna. "Your Highness."

Twilight blushed fiercely. "Professor, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've read all of your work!"

The old pony raised an eyebrow. "All of it? It's quite the long read."

She giggled awkwardly. "Well, I do spend a lot of my time reading."

I looked at her, confused. "A lot? You spend nearly all your time with your nose buried in a book when you don't have to do something else! I'm pretty sure you forgot to sleep two days in a raw last week because you were reading some nonsense about an old enchanter or something!"

She stared at me in a way that made me wonder if I had just insulted her or something. "That was an extremely rare edition of one of Starswirl the Bearded treaties regarding the amniomorphic spell, not some 'nonsense about an old enchanter'!"

"That's not important," Verso declared, turning to face professor Neighton. "Did you arrange a meeting place with the others, or are we to find them the same way we found the princess?"

He shook his head. "I had one of my assistants make sure that we would have an appropriate room somewhere in the Palace. This... Gala is no place to have a serious discussion."

"Out of the Gala?" Verso asked, raising an eyebrow. He then looked at Luna. "Will that be alright with you, Princess? We were supposed to spent the night here, after all."

Luna looked uneasy, and didn't look at us in the eyes when she replied. "After yesterday, my sister and I decided that we could be a bit more lenient about this part of your punishment."

"Good." Verso turned his attention back to mister Neighton. "Show the way."

"'After what happened yesterday'?" I heard miss Twilight quietly repeat for herself. "Do you mean-" Verso shot a glare at her, and she silenced herself.

"What is this 'punishment' Princess Luna mentioned?" mister Professor Neighton asked as he started to walk toward a nearby door.

"Verso and I went on a trek to some old spooky ruins in the Everfree Forest without telling anyone, and that scared miss Princess Celestia and miss Twilight, so we were punished and told not to do it again."

"And your punishment consists of being forced to go to Equestria's most renown party?" he asked, dubious. I nodded in confirmation and he glanced at Princess Luna. "You and your sister are more cruel than I thought. Maybe I should show more respect in my usual demeanor?"

Luna smirked. "That would surely be a victory for the ages, professor."

"So, what do you want to talk about tonight, Verso?" miss Twilight asked, a certain eagerness in her tone.

Verso glanced at her, grinning. "Same thing I talk about every night, Twilight. How to take over the world."She looked at us as if Verso was crazy.

I understood that reference!

Verso sighed. Thank you, Recto. "That was a joke, of course. I'll mostly talk about the content of my books, and about exactly how far off the laws of physics are in this place compared to Earth."

"Your people called your homeland 'Earth'? That's a bit unimaginative," professor Neighton denoted.

"I currently reside in a town named 'Ponyville'. Who are the uninspired ones, again?" Verso replied with a smirk. "Besides, it's mostly due to old beliefs."

"What do you mean?" miss Twilight asked, as she levitated a pencil and a notebook out of her saddlebags.

"To put it simply, a long time before my birth, humans worshipped various gods," Verso began explaining, looking at Twilight as she wrote down his every word. "In most cases, they thought that our planet was one of such deities, and gave it a name. Then, we would simply use that name when talking about the ground in general. Are you going to write down everything I say?"

"Mostly, yes," miss Twilight answered. "It'll be the most I'll have ever heard out of you. I'm not wasting this opportunity."

Verso shrugged. "Suit yourself."

"I had previously understood that your people were really science-focused," Luna remarked. "Why would they use such an abstract concept as a 'god'?"

"Simple: we like answers, and when we don't have them, we make them. At first, ancient religions used these myths to explain concepts we didn't understood, like where we humans come from, why there is a big fireball in the sky that hurts to look at, how come that grass grows, why in the seven hells is winter coming... Basic stuff, really, but we didn't know yet, and we wanted an answer. Some lingered after science could disprove most of their myths, because we quite like to think that we were created to be perfect rather than the fact that we are cousins with stupid chimps."

"That's not entirely true," I protested. "Most of those that lingered were mostly teaching people to be kind with each other, weren't they?"

"Yes," Verso replied with a bit of venom in his tone, "and others were used to take control over the masses and persecute those that didn't deserve it, like scared children that were slightly different from everyone else. That was sooo kind on their part."

Silence fell around us. Miss Twilight wasn't writing down anymore, just looking at us, Luna looked like she would have preferred not asking, and professor Neighton was still walking forward, the only sign that he was listening being his ears slightly turned in our direction. Then, after a few, heavy seconds of silence, Luna talked.

"I am sorry if I have brought up a topic that you would have rather avoided, Verso."

He sighed. "Don't be. I went off-track myself."

I'm sorry too.

It's no problem, I said.

Maybe, but you're not thinking it.

Verso didn't reply to that, instead focusing on professor Neighton. "Are we far from our destination yet?"

"Not that much, really. It's supposedly just around the corner," he said just as we turned. A few steps from us, we could see a younger pony wearing glasses waving at us through an open door. "There we are."

"Were you really being-" miss Twilight started to whisper behind us.

"Now is not the time for-" Verso answered, interrupting himself when he spotted a nightguard batpony following us, and staring creepily at us. Verso blinked. "Since when were you..."

Verso blasted a big sense field, large enough for us to feel some ponies dancing in the ballroom, more than fifty meters away. He squinted our eyes at the batpony, as confused as he was distressed. He glanced at Luna, who looked more annoyed than anything else.

"He wasn't there a moment ago," he stated, as if it explained everything.

"Sunshine is particularly apt in the art of not being not seen, Verso," Luna said. "And he is my most trusted ponyguard. Don't mind him."

"I don't like being surprised like that. At all."

"I will keep that in mind, and make sure you two meet often, in that case."

"What was that spell just now?" professor Neighton asked, intrigued. "I don't think I have ever seen something quite like that."

"Just a trick I came up with," Verso answered, still glaring at mister Sunshine. "It allows me to sense everything in a defined perimeter. I tend to use it by reflex when I'm startled."

"Interesting," professor Neighton said as he entered the room.

Verso followed him and we entered into what I could only picture as a hundred-plus year old classroom: it was rather big, with about two dozen sits facing a blackboard that was furnished with white sticks and a wooden rectangle with hairs on one side. While I was amazed, Verso was more surprised and confused, wondering why there even were a classroom in the middle of a Palace. Silly Verso. As if colourful magical ponies needed a reason for having classrooms anywhere.

Miss Twilight came in too, soon followed by Luna, who instructed mister Sunshine to guard the door. Looking around the room, we noticed that there weren't anyone else yet, only our little group and professor Neighton's assistant, who kept looking at the older pony and us. He finally settled on us with a big smile, as Verso walked up to the desk and put down his notes.

"Are-Are you sir Verso?" the blue pegasus asked. Heh, 'Sir Verso'. "I... I'm Flickering Light, professor's Neighton assistant!" he said, hesitantly extanding a hoof for us to shake. "It's an honor, sir!"

Verso looked at him, raising an eyebrow. Shake his hoof! I ushered. Come on!

What, and give him a nerdgasm? Heavens above, the guy looks like he's about to have a heart-attack!

I grunted and took the front seat, smiling as I shook the poor pony's leg. "Nice to meet you, mister Flickering! I'm Recto."

His smile extended to Pinkie Pie's levels of happiness, and then, he blinked. "Rec-... Oh, Celestia! Did I mess up your name? I messed up your name! I'm sorry!"

Verso and I both blinked, taken aback. Well, that's a first.

I tried to give him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, it's not like-"

"You must be so upset with me! This is exactly like my first day Cloudsdale Cumulus University! I'll be laughed at for years to come! Again!"

Hum, Verso, this is getting out of hand. You think you can...

I dunno, this is kinda entertaining.

Verso!

Okay, okay..."Listen, pal, it's really-"

"I should have listen to my mom and eaten those tomatoes all those years ago! 'They're good for your brain, son', she said! But I can't help it, I hate tomatoes! They taste like rubbish!"

I wonder how far he'll get if we let him continue...

Verso!

Thankfully, professor Neighton came to save the day and promptly punched the poor panicking pegasus properly behind the head, forcing him silent. Verso slightly whined in disappointment.

"Pardon him, he tends to freak out quite easily." I think Luna chuckled, glancing at miss Twilight. "He has quite the good head on his shoulder, though, and I'm sure he'd like to assist to your presentation, if you'll allow him, sir Verso."

Again with the 'sir' thing... That's weird.

"No problem with me. The more, the merrier," Verso said. "Do you know when the others will arrive?"

"They shouldn't take too long. It'll give you some time to prepare yourself, though."

Verso shrugged. "Well, take a sit, then. I don't intend to repeat myself, so I'll start when they arrive."

Miss Twilight and Flickering Light didn't lose any time and nearly ran off to take front row sits, while Verso simply glanced at the desk chair to confirm that, indeed, it was a lot too small for us to sit in. He instead sat down on the desk as professor Neighton deposited the two piles of paper onto it, before he also headed to a front sit. Meanwhile, Luna was staring at the chairs, as if they somehow contained the answers to the biggest mysteries of life and existence itself, or better, the recipe for chocolate powder. Verso smirked.

"What's the matter, Princess? Can't find a chair large enough?"

Miss Twilight and Flicker --it's shorter, I'll call him that-- looked at us in horror, Luna looked at us shocked, and professor Neighton remained more or less expressionless. I heard someone chuckling outside, and it may or may not have been mister Sunshine, I'm not quite sure.

"Did you... Did you just call me fat?" Luna asked, as if she didn't believe her ears.

"No." Yes. Yes he did. "I was inquiring if a pony as unusually tall as you are could find a fitting chair in this room. I'm having the same problem, after all."

She GLARED at us with just as much animosity --woohoo, big words!-- as she had when she insulted Verso in the gardens on our first day in Equestria, but Verso remained calm and smirking. Her horn lit up and, even though he tensed up just a little bit, Verso didn't budge. A nice-looking pillow appeared out of nowhere and fell on the ground, near miss Twilight. Then Luna sat on it, still glaring holes through our skull. I could literally feel her scorching stare on our head. It was not a nice feeling. At all.

"Sooo... What did you tell the others about me, professor Neighton?" Verso inquired, trying to diffuse the downright explosive tension in the room.

"Not much, really. I just said that you were a visitor from a far away land and that you could potentially revolutionize most of our fields."

"Oh. So not many expectations to meet, then. Great."

Are you... stressed? Is that what you being stressed feels like?

Of course I'm a bit nervous. This is our best shot at getting a enough bits to live on our own, and I don't want to mess up.

Oh yeah, you did say that it was important.

I noticed that miss Twilight was staring quite intensively at Verso's piles of paper, and pointed it out to the man in charge. "Do you want something, miss Sparkle?"

She blushed lightly, probably taken aback by Verso's way of addressing her. "Well, you told me earlier about these books of yours, and I am awfully curious..." Verso levitated the bigger one onto miss Twilight's table, and I'm pretty sure I could stars in her eyes. "Thank you!"

"No problem. While we're on the subject, professor Neighton, and Flickering, I suppose, did you face any trouble when reading them?"

"Well," the older pony started, "as I said yesterday, they are rather high-level. Challenging, even. You sometimes brush over concepts that I think should be explained more, only to concentrate on other, even more complicated ones. The purely mathematical part should be longer, overall."

"Noted," Verso said smirking again as he saw miss Twilight visibly struggling while reading. "I suppose I'll try to start at a simpler level. And what about the physics and chemistry parts?"

"Well, I obviously didn't have the time to recreate any of the experiments you talk about to prove your hypotheses, but some of them have mind-blowing consequences. Do you really think that matter is composed of tiny particules? That seems improbable."

"What are you talking about?" Luna asked. "Matter is composed of just that, matter, right?"

"Oh, I could see why you would have some difficulties with the concept. Let's put it like that," he said, floating one of the white sticks to us. "Let's take this chalk, would you? Now, what can you tell me about it?"

"It's made out of special porous rocks?" Flickering said.

"Well, yes, but that's not my point. It's one chunk of rock, we agree with that?" The ponies nodded. "So, what does it mean when this happens?" he asked, breaking the chalk in half.

"You broke it," Luna said.

"Thank you, princess Obvious," he said, making Luna puff her cheeks and glare at us some more. "Anyone else?"

"You now have two smaller 'chunks' of chalk when you used to have one?" Twilight answered.

"A point for Princess Booksmart. It also means that our previous, bigger piece of chalk, that was one whole thing, was in fact composed of multiple, smaller, pieces. But now, our chunks are whole again, right?" As he said that, he broke one of the pieces of chalk in half again. "And I've now showed that the small pieces were in fact composed of even smaller bits. Now, I could continue with this for a long time, but we don't seem to have electronic microscopes at our disposal, so you'll have to trust me that, at some point, I won't be able to break these bits anymore, because there simply isn't anything smaller to be produced. The result is what we humans have called 'atoms', the smallest bit of matter one can have. And these atoms interact with each other via a number of means, which let them form slightly bigger bits of matter, that are called molecules. That's the basic gist of it."

"So you are saying that every rock are made out of these 'atoms'?" Luna asked, clearly interested.

"Not only rocks, your Highness, but pretty much everything. Air, water, grass, ponies, animals and metals, everything is basically just a big bunch of atoms and molecules grouped together."

"That sounds hard to believe," the professor said.

"What are you talking about, my friend?" asked a pony just as he entered the room.

It was a greyish green unicorn, about as old as professor Neighton, and with an equally unusually long and whitish mane. He was wearing what I could only assume was some sort of elaborated pajamas or robes that looked somewhat classy. I don't really know how he could pull that off. He glanced in our direction and stared for several seconds, looking a bit intimidated.

"Is that the 'human' you were talking about, Neighton? He looks a lot bigger than you said."

"Oh, don't be scared, Halehay. He probably won't eat you."

Oh, sweet skies above, are they all going to be like that? Verso internally groaned.

What do you mean, scared?

No, I mean doppelgangers from our world!

Huh?

Don't bother, it's not that important...

"Well, sir Verso, I am Edmond Halehay, mathematician and oceanographer. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said, raising a hoof that Verso promptly shook.

"Oh, it's a pleasure too."

"My friend Neighton, here, told me that you had some 'revolutionizing ideas' to share with us tonight?"

"Well, I do, but we're still waiting for some other ponies to show up."

"Well then, better to take a sit before they are all occupied, in that case." He turned to the rest of the classroom and came muzzle to muzzle with Luna. He froze for an instant and immediately bowed. "You're Highness! I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you were here!"

"Do not fret over it, professor. I am here to listen to our guest, just like you."

"It must really be something, in that case. I, for one, am impatient!"

"We were just talking about one of his ideas from his land," professor Neighton said, focusing back onto us. "He was saying that matter, air, and ponies were made out of little blocks that stick together to create, well, everything."

"An interesting proposal indeed," Halehay said, nodding and looking at us. "What makes you think that, mister Verso?"

"Two things, mostly: the fact that it has been proven right where I come from, and the fact that I'm still able to breath. If the basics laws of physics had changed when I arrived in Equestria because of some magical mumbo-jumbo, I would have likely died within instants of my arrival."

Didn't mister Discord said that we nearly did, though? You know, on our first day.

He also explained why and it had nothing to do with the basic laws of physics. If anything, magic seems to be an 'add-on' to our normal, Earth-like physics.

"Excuse me, monsieur?" a voice said outside. "Ah seem to be, 'ow you say... lost? Oui, lost. Ah am looking for a group off ponies. Monsieur Neighton said zat it should be someplace around 'ere, but no specifics, voyez-vous?"

"Is that French?" Verso wondered aloud. "There are french ponies around here?"

"I don't know what your are talking about, but that pony with a fancy accent must be Lavoisine," Neighton, walking outside. "Poor fellow is terrible with maps."

Oh, for the love of... Verso groaned again.

"Ah! Professor Neighton! Ah found you, after all. Merci beaucoup, monsieur," the pony said with his strange accent before entering the room with mister Neighton.

It was a significantly younger unicorn than the other two, and he wore an old-fashioned jacket and a little scarf. His coat was a light shade of blue and his darker mane was cut short. On his flank, I noticed a picture of a vial over a bunch of flames. He looked around when he got in and spotted Luna first, in front of whom he properly knelt down.

"Your Majestée, it's an 'onor to be een your présence."

"Rise, my little pony. I am here as a mere student as well tonight."

"Ah, oui, zeh 'hooman'," the blue pony said as he turned around and looked at us.

His accent hurts.

I must admit, it's kinda terrible. "Nice to meet you, sir Lavoisine. I am Verso, the human, indeed."

"It is a plaisir to meet somepony, huh, 'ow you say... so well spoken of? Oui, somepony so well spoken of by monsieur Neighton. And, as he had wrote, you are naught somefing zat Ah have evar sin before," he said inspecting us quickly.

Is he going to speak like that the whole time?

I fear so, yes.

Well, then, have fun with that, I'm going to sleep to escape this hell. Wake me up when he's away from us, please. 'Night!

Sleep well.

***

I blinked a couple times when Recto went to sleep, mainly to hide his eye color being replaced by mine, and therefore preventing the pony imitation of the father of chemistry from asking any question with his horrendous accent. Sadly, he had other topics in mind, so that didn't stop him.

"Monsieur Neighton sedd dat you had a remarkable mind for somepony as young as you arr. 'Iz letter sedd dat you come from away, oui?"

Good heavens, is that even english at this point? "I would say that this is flattery. I am simply writing down what I have learned from my people before I arrived in Equestria a few weeks ago."

"Which is already quite amazing, might I say," Neighton intervened.

"Were doo you come from, monsieur Verso?" the blue unicorn asked as he sat down.

"If whatever Discord told me is reliable, I'd say that the notion of far doesn't really apply at this point."

"You keep evading the question," Halehay noted.

I nodded. "Indeed, I do."

A somewhat awkward silence fell on the room for a couple seconds. "Would you mind telling us why?" the same pony asked.

I shrugged. "It amuses me, first, and I am stalling for time so that I don't have to explain it multiple time. We are still waiting, for someone, after all."

"Fair point." He stayed silent for a few instants, during which Twilight was silently gawking at the assembly. "So, what was that about these little blocks of matter, again?"

I sighed. "Look, I really don't want to seem rude or anything, but could we wait until the others are here before I start explaining the true nature of the universe, please? I really don't want to explain something like that over and over." He thankfully nodded, probably understanding. "Meanwhile, why don't you have a look at that?" I asked, levitating the chemistry book to Lavoisine and the physics part of my bigger book to Halehay (getting myself a dangerous glare from Twilight in doing so). "I'm sure you could find something interesting in there."

"It looks... quit interesting, in effect," Lavoisine said, making me --and most ponies, I noticed-- cringe. "Chemistry and alchemy just happen too bee me favoreet subjects."

"You don't say..." I muttered under my breath, before looking at Neighton. "Who are we waiting for, again?"

"An all-around innovator and inventor named Bright Ideas," he answered, and I sighed in relief when I realized that it wasn't another earth clone. "I'm sure you would like him, he is also passionate about physics. He invented what he calls 'lightbulbs' just a decade ago, and they are starting to be used all around Equestria."

The name sounded familiar, though, and it took me only a few seconds to remember that the Princesses had referenced him just when Recto and I realized that we weren't buried deeply underground anymore. It got me a bit excited to meet him, even though he wasn't really related to that event. It brought a question to my mind, though, and I looked around us, searching for one of these lightbulbs, but they were not to be seen. The room was still lit, with no apparent light source. That disturbed me. A lot.

"Out of curiosity, do you know how these lightbulbs work?" I asked.

Lavoisine, sadly, decided to explain. "Ah beelieve dat zey use a chemical dat absorb light and, ow you say... glows it back when magically activate."

I blinked. "That sounds nothing like how we crafted our lightbulbs. At all." Maybe it's a translation problem, though? That wouldn't be too far-fetched.

"Oh, your people had created lightbulbs too? But, how did they activated them without magic?" Halehay asked.

"They didn't work on magic, but on electricity and thermo-radiation, for the simplest of them."

"Thermo-what now?" Twilight asked, tilting her head.

Luna took a confused expression. "I thought you said that radiation were dangerous."

I nodded. "And that's why you should never ask someone to explain a complex phenomenon quickly, because it gets confusing. Put simply, 'radiation' is simply light. Thermo-radiation is the fact that basically everything emits light when it's hot enough, like how steel glows white in a forge."

"Ah am confuse," Lavoisine said. "Youmans -" I cringed. Hard. "- light up rooms with forges?"

"Nah. We place a small filament in a small glass bulb that is pumped empty of air, and run an electric current through the filament, heating it up until it glows enough to light up the room."

Most ponies blinked. Luna talked first. "I know what most of these words means separated, but when you put them together like that, they somehow make no sense at all to me. Is that normal?"

I looked around. "You guys know what electricity is, right?"

"Of course we know," Neighton said. "It's the energy that's crated by storm clouds and various unicorn spells. Your people use storms to generate light?"

"Oh boy. It might be a bit more complicated than I had thought to explain it to you. How to put it simply..." I wondered aloud, before my sense field picked up something strange going on outside.

A changeling and a couple of ponies were walking our way. While I could feel that the ponies were carrying an impressive amount of notepads and writing furniture, the changeling was silently walking in front of them, empty handed if not for his clothes. Just like it did with Lyr- Thingy and the other changelings, its magical disguise made it actually rather hard to feel what the changeling was looking like.

I'll admit that I was a bit curious to know what a lone changeling was doing on around here in such a particular arrangement, and I focused my mind on the creature. It didn't look like it was particularly syphoning energy from the ponies following it, or anywhere else for that matter, and I couldn't feel any other changeling around, meaning that it probably wasn't a swarm either. Probably a single changeling that lived in Canterlot for years, I thought to myself. I then noticed that the small group in front of me was trying to get my attention.

"Huh, Verso?" Luna asked. "Is there a problem?" She turned around to look at the wall I just then realized I was staring through with my field. "Is there something wrong with the wall?"

"No, I just got a bit side-tracked," I said, shaking my head. "Anyway, back on business. As I was saying..."

I stopped myself when I realized that the changeling and what definitely looked like its assistants had stopped in front of Luna's guard. "Excuse me, good guard," the changeling said, smiling, "I have been invited by sir Giggle Neighton here. Is he already inside?" Sunshine the badly named nodded. "Thank you." The changeling looked behind it at its assistants. "Well, then, you two, get back to the lab, and keep working on what we've talked."

"Yes, sir!" the ponies answered in unison, saluting as if they were part of the military before they scrambled off.

Meanwhile, the changeling passed a hoof in its false hair, corrected his bow-tie, and pushed the door open. "Hello? Sir Neighton?"

The changeling stopped when it saw me and we just stared at each other, it being understandingly surprised, and myself being increasingly annoyed. It had taken the appearance of a somewhat older pony, probably in its fifties from a human perspective, and was wearing a remarkable tuxedo. Its disguise was of a male unicorn with a reddish coat and a greying brown mane. What really marked me, though, was how vivid its lime-green eyes were. He blinked a couple time.

"Oh. Hello there. What exactly are you?" he said.

"I'm Verso, a human," I answered. "And you are..?"

"I am Bright Idea, the greatest inventor of this century!"

Author's Note

Hello again! I'm back! And with a chapter! Woohoo!

By the way, you have no idea how hard and weird it is to write someone speaking english with an accent in your native tongue. Verso may be cringing when he hears Lavoisine, but I was tearing my hairs off while I imagined his lines.

I had somewhat of a hard time making these puns for the Scientific Pony Trio (Bright Ideas doesn't count). The pun on Lavoisine is in french, by the way. Let me know if you found better ones in the comments!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and until next time, see ya!

Prologue: Attack of the pastries, or How to destroy a world.

“Runaway! They are attacking our flank! Retreat into the corridor!” a guard shouted an octave or two higher than he usually talked, withdrawing in the said corridor, screaming like a little filly the entire time.

These were the first words Celestia heard when she arrived around the Royal kitchens that morning. Surely, there had to be better ways to start a day than discovering that the pastries prepared for her breakfast had come to life and declared war on Equestria for the genocide of their people. She was actually pretty sure Luna was still messing with her dreams again, when one of her guards came and woke her early to ask for her help. Why they weren’t asking Luna for this was above her.

But she was actually surprised when she discovered the halls: pastry chiefs were curled against a wall, begging for forgiveness and mercy; guards were panicking and running in circles screaming while civilians probably dragged by the commotion were still trying to understand what to make of this display of self-control from the Royal Guard.

Sighing, the Sun Princess progressed towards one of the last non-screaming officers, who ran to her as soon as he saw her.

“Your Majesty! Thank you for coming, we really need help here!”
“I see that, Gleaming Helmet. What is the situation at hoof? Why wasn’t my sister informed of this ruckus?”

He seemed to squirm in place, unable to look at her.

“Well, after Princess Luna stopped laughing when we informed her of the situation, she came here and was captured by the muffins…”

Celestia blinked.

“Beg your pardon?”
“Princess Luna is held captive by the enemy, your Majesty.” His voice was clearly trembling.

Without a word, Celestia turned to face the doors kept closed by a few unicorns, trying to prevent the pastry invasion to extend any further in the palace. Would she have any less control on her body, her left eye would have twitched.

“My sister, the Princess of the Moon, the Dream-Warden, an Immortal Alicorn and formerly Nightmare Moon… was captured by an army of pastries, you say?”

The guard nodded, shaking. And Celestia exploded in laughter, confusing the poor soldier even more than he already was. A minute later, she could at last control her hilarity and wiped a tear with her hoof.

“That’s… That’s just grand.”
“Hum… What are we to do, your Highness? We have to free Princess Luna! She may be in danger!”
“I assure you, officer, my sister is perfectly safe. Only one thing in the entire world would come off with a plan like this, and he wouldn’t hurt her. Just send Discord to the throne room as soon as you can find him. Knowing him, I will probably find him there when I arrive.”
“But… Shouldn’t we at least try to get her Highness out of here?”
Celestia walked away, waving a hoof. “Oh… Sure… You can try. Save her from ‘the evil Muffin Army’. Good luck with that.”

At her words, a certain wall-eyed blonde pegasus in the audience froze, before muttering something along the lines of ‘I knew this day would come…’ and walking towards the Royal Kitchen’s doors. When she turned around the corner, the last thing Celestia heard of the incident was a clear “What is she doing? Stop her, she will get hurt!” quickly followed by a strangely high-pitched “The Destructor has come! Brace yourselves, brethren!” She shook her head, still giggling.

Upon arriving at the throne room, she had her regal face back to work. She couldn’t show the Spirit of Chaos his last incident had amused her so much, not in public at least. And she was surprised to find the room empty of any Draconequus. Shrugging, she sat on her throne and prepared to wait for him. Ultimately, she didn’t wait for so long: her throne began to laugh as soon as she rested on it.

Nearly jumping away in surprise, she quickly got up and turned around fast enough to see the said throne slowly turning itself into a laughing mismatch of animals. Who began to crawl on the floor when he saw the blank look the Sun Princess was trying to give him.

“Oh, you should have seen the look on your face! Priceless!”
“I hope you had your fun, Discord. How come none of the hidden guards in this room prevented you from doing this?”
“Well, they got the word that their beloved Sunbutt had been captured by the pastries and I was generous enough to send them directly into the Kitchens. Ain’t I a helpful Draconequus?”
“And, of course, you have nothing to do with the said attack of the muffins?”
He looked hurt and theatrically answered: “Oh, Celestia! How can you even consider the mere thought of me giving the gift of life to these inconsiderate creatures? Surely, you have to be more trustful of me!”

Celestia gave him another serious stare.

“Discord, as much as I have to admit I may have found this little… chaos of yours amusing…”
“‘Amusing?’ You were laughing like a mad mare! I’m not sure any of your subjects ever saw you laugh that much! You insult me, Celestia.”

She smiled a little at his remark and continued:

“… It has to stop. Now. Ponies may get hurt.”
He gave her a bemused look. “You know I’d never let my creatures hurt any of your subjects, Celestia.”
She nodded. “I’m aware you won’t physically hurt them. But a few chiefs are probably already traumatized by your so called ‘joke’. I don’t want any of them to live in fear of another rebellion of their confections. And I am not talking about the shame of the guards that are being beaten by a chaos-fueled army of muffins. Some are surelyconsidering leaving the guard because of this.”
He sighed and snapped his talon. “Fine. They stopped.”
Celestia smiled. “Thank you Discord. I know you don’t like this but…”
“Of course I don’t like that!” He suddenly exploded, surprising Celestia. “I need to wreck Chaos just as much as you need to raise the Sun! I hate being forced to stop it…”
“Discord…”
He sighed. “You know, for a moment, I thought this may work out. I had real friends for the first time in my very, VERY long life. But there is so little chaos around here that it’s nearly unhealthy!”
“You know we can’t let you roam totally free again, Discord. None of us would stay sane if you just spread chaos anywhere, anytime!”
“I know, and I’m getting tired of eating my wings to make me tame, Celestia Luxaria Faust.”

Somehow, Discord saying her complete name made her shiver. He had a really sad look on his face, something that wasn’t good. At all. A sad look on Discord meant only one thing: he was about to do something big. Really, really big. World changing big.

“Well, what can I do? I can’t just let you roam free and make everypony mad again, Discord! And I don’t really want to turn you back into stone, not after we went this far.”
“And I don’t have the intention of letting you do it anyway, Celestia. I have two options in front of me right now: either I find something to cause an acceptable amount of chaos permanently or I change the rules. Again. And believe me, you don’t want me to change the rules.”

He had said that in a sinister tone that made her shiver even more than the time Luna and her confronted the ‘Mad King’ the first time. For some reason, he was really terrifying her with his words.

“Are you… Are you threatening me, Discord?” she asked, doing her best to hide her fear, while unconsciously moving into a fighting stance.
“No… Not really. After all, I like this Era too much to change it so soon. It has only been a few tens of thousands of years, after all.”
The Sun Princess was confused.
“What do you mean, you like this ‘Era’ too much? And how old are you, exactly? I always thought you were older than Luna and I by only a few decades…”

He looked at her wide-eyed and exploded in laughter. Once again, Celestia shivered: it wasn’t a happy laughter, nor was it some kind of evil or mad one. It was a sad laughter, one you had when you realize how much life was so ironic you could only either cry or laugh.

“Your elder by… A few decades? Oh, Celestia, always up for a good laugh.” He wiped a tear with his claw. “Tell me, how old are you, again? And don’t even dare to go ‘A lady never tells her age’ on me, missy.”
“… I’ll turn a thousand, one hundred and twelve this summer.” She answered, kinda ashamed of this number. She really was old, wasn’t she?

Discord counted on his paw and whistled.

“Wow, not even a millionth of my age! And I’m not taking the time I spent in a timeless space into account! Thinking about it, I’m freakishly old, ain’t I?”
It was Celestia’s turn to be wide-eyed. “Just exactly how old are you?” she whispered, a little scared of the answer. He grinned at her.
“I’m not exactly sure of my age anymore, but I’d say roughly fourteen billions and a hundred thousand years old. Something like that. And I must admit, I’m getting kind of tired.”
Celestia stepped back, her gaze frozen on the Draconequus. “That’s… That’s not possible! Nothing can be that old! Equiis itself is only…”
“A hundred and thirty-eight thousand two hundred twenty-six years old on New year. It was created rapidly out of an explosion of magic of unknown source. Life appeared at an insane rate during the first millennia, evolution slowing its course around a hundred thousand years ago, for unknown reason, after the apparition of most species still present on Equiis today. And boy, it was hard to think of an evolutionary path to create those blasted sea ponies!”
Celestia stepped back again. “Surely, you don’t mean that…”
“Nah. I’m no ‘creator’ or anything. I merely changed the previous rules. I didn’t like them. I still don’t know how it all began, and quite frankly, I don’t give a damn about it. All I know is that I was there right after the beginning and that I was left to choose the first rules.”
“You… You have to be lying!”

Discord grinned and teleported right behind the Alicorn, whispering to her ear: “What? You don’t like the idea of being around here because of me?” She jumped away from him. He shrugged. “I am not about to change the rules again. This Era is still young, and it is the one I loved the most so far. But, if you want me to comply with your every order, I will need to… instill a rogue element in this world.”

Celestia was still shocked and didn’t say anything. He smiled.

“Quite frankly, I’ve been thinking about it since dear Fluttershy talked me into playing for the good side of the equation. Even I have done things I regret, Celestia. And one of them I did in the necessity of the moment is now haunting the back of my mind. I will atone for it.”
“What… What will you do?”
“Get back in time. Back into the first Era. And I will save one of my most useful puppets. Truly, I made his life terrible back then.”
Celestia thought about it a little. “What did he do? Why was he one of your ‘most useful puppets’?”
“Well, in a way, he brought the end of the first Era. Let me destroy an entire universe. You know, the usual.”
“And you intent to bring him HERE?! Are you cra… Wait, that’s a stupid question. But do you really think I’ll allow somepony who can destroy a world to come here?”
“He didn’t quite exactly destroy it. He was only the key. I did it.”
“But… Wouldn’t saving him change the present?”
“Nah. I’ll do it the right way. And he may actually be benefic here, in your meaning of the word. He is part of one of the greatest species to ever having breathed, after all.”
Celestia pondered for a moment. “Is there really no other way?”
“I wasn’t actually asking for your permission. I’ve made my choice, and I will bring him here. I owe him that much. I turned his life into a nightmare to create a new Era, and ultimately, to make Equiis possible. In fact, you owe him that much. And he died so young, the poor thing.”

Celestia was walking in circles. “If you have to go, and given what you said is true, I won’t stop you.”
“Thank you. Now, I’ll be back in approximately five minutes. Luna will enter as soon as I leave, followed by the guards. I don’t know if you want to let them know about the man I’ll bring back, but I’ll let that up to you. And you are forbidden to reveal what I’ve just said to you to anypony, even to your adorable little sister. The last thing I need is some kind of cult to my name. Again. I may inform her personally of everything I told you later.” He put on black shades out of nowhere and smiled at Celestia. “I’ll be back.”

And he disappeared in a flash of light. The next instant, the doors flew open, letting a very upset and flour-covered blue Alicorn enter.
“Where is that foolish Draconequus? I shall make him pay dearly for his insolence!”
Celestia sighed. This was going to be a long day.

Back inside the Royal kitchen sat the Destructor, the End-Bringer, She-who-looks-at-two-places-at-once, the Great Devourer. The grey pegasus was feasting upon the corpses of the greatest pastry army the world has ever known, laughing at her terrible victory like the mad mare she was.

Author's Note

Hello everyone! And I call for clapping for what is at the same time my first pony fiction and my first english story ever!
Had you told me only a year and a half ago "You, my son, will write about cartoon ponies in a language you still don't fully master." I would have probably called you mad. Then I would ask you what you were doing in my appartement, but that's minor.
As I've just said, I still don't very well write english (yes, that grammar error is for fun, guys), so I'm currently looking for a little help in this department.
And of course, PM me for every error you spy with your little eye.

Chapter 5: Explanations are in order

We spent the next two hours talking in the garden, mostly about the flow of questions I was asking to put up with the wonderful feeling of being outside. Celestia and Luna were really kind and described most of the few small critters living here, such as funny hyper-active squirrels and the few birds that flew by. We also discovered we were actually situated in the Royal Palace of Canterlot, capital city of Equestria, perched on the side of the Canterhorn, a lonely mountain filled with jewels naturally growing in the caves under the city, with the help of the magical energy of the land.

That was pretty ridiculous, but it was nothing next to the next discovery we made, when we surprised a pegasus pushing a cloud around. We may haven't had the chance of getting outside in our homeworld, but even I knew for a fact that you can't just push clouds wherever you want them to got.

So imagine how we were surprised when Clestia exlained that not only could pegasi move clouds, but that they were monitoring and hoofcrafting the very weather of the land. Hehe, horse puns... They use a lot of them in their normal talking, that's really funny. But that's also not the point.

That's simply not possible, Verso mentally whispered in disbelief. Weather patterns are too complex for anyone to monitor.

I repeated his remark and Luna smriked and nodded.

"You are mostly right, it is a terribly complicated task. Errors keep happening from time to time, but our little ponies work hard to prevent disasters."

I tilted our head. Through the entire conversation, both Celestia and Luna kept saying "our little ponies". That was a very, very strange formulation. They talked about other ponies as if they were talking about children, almost like...

It clicked inside my mind. They lived in the Royal Palace, everyone obeyed and respected them, they wore funny jewelry and little tiaras, they were really kind, had a lot of magical powers and wings. They could only be one thing.

Verso, do you think they are what I think they are?
Well, I have to say it's pretty obvious they are...
They're fairy godmothers! Or at least, the pony equivalent of these!
... What?
How haven't I realized that before? All the signs are there!
Yeah, fairies, let's go with that. If that explanation makes you happy.
Now, they must be looking upon the royalty in the palace, probably a princess. 'Cause that's what fairy godmothers do. They help princesses fight evil witches.
And what about the King and the Queen? Shouldn't they help them too?
Don't be silly, Verso. Of course they don't. Kings and Queens are either evil or absent. That's common knowledge! Duh!
Your logic leaves me wordless.
No it doesn't. You just used some.

Verso didn't reply and I looked at the two alicorns with renewed wonder in the eyes. This day was definetely getting better and better. I glanced at the sky once again. The sun had rose well above the horizon - I still can't believe we can use this word to describe anything now - and shone warmly onto us. I like the sun, it's even better than the videos said it was.

A small cloud of ashes flew by and stopped itself in front of Celestia before it somehow turned itself into some kind of scroll she caught with her telekinesis. Is that a letter? Wow, their emails sure are strange. She unrolled it and smiled warmly - seriously, it's bugging me: how can a smile release heat? - as she read its content.

Her eyes suddenly snapped to us and I could feel she just had an idea. Her horn glowed brighter for a second and another scroll just popped into existence, alongside with a quill and an inkwell. She nonchalantly caught every new item in her telekinesis and wrote something on the scroll, proofread it and nodded to herself, satisfied. Another bright glow and the new letter was burned to ashes.

I don't think I understand their mail system very much.

"What was that? Why did you burn it? You just wrote it!" I exclaimed.
"Don't worry, Recto," she answered and sent back her quill and inkwell from wherever they came from, alongside the letter she received. "It may look strange to you, but that's how I write to one of my ex-students. It is a lot faster than regular mail, after all."
She has students? In what domain?
"Well," she reply after I voiced his question, "I am technically the principal of the school for gifted unicorns, and Twilight mostly study magic."
"Unicorns are the ponies with magical powers like mine, right?"
"Indeed," Luna confirms. "Manipulation of the arcanes of magic is complex and needs true instruction."

Okay. So the magical fairy god mother runs a school to teach how to do magic to young students. And I never had the chance to finish Harry Potter. I think I may have fangasmed a little there.

Did you hear her? A magical school! You think we should join it? Magical schools can't be boring!
I think we should wait a bit. We still don't know a lot of things about 'Equestria'. I'd rather we wait until we are more familiar with this environment before we did something like that.
Oh... You're sure?
As always, it's up to you to decide. But, you know, It may be preferable for us to wait until our body gets used to our new power and allows me to get out before we surround ourselves wth trained magicians.

I sighed. He was right, maybe I should just wait a bit. Just have to remember to ask her about that. And I noted that another letter had appeared while I was discussing with Verso. She nodded to nobody in particular and smiled to me.

"My ex-student and her friends should arrive later this afternoon to meet you. I'm sure they will give you a warm welcome to Equestria, Recto."
"And Verso," I remind her.
"And Verso. I'm sorry if I have offended you," she continues, her cheeks pinkening a bit.
Tell her I'm not. I'm expecting a lot of people to forget I'm here until I can finally get out.

I repeated his words, only to notice Luna's rather curious stare shifting to a dubious one for a fraction of a second. I tilted my head. Was she doubting that Verso wasn't offended? I would have asked her if there was a problem, but was unexpectedly covered by what Verso identified as 'spaghettis'.

Someone else probably would have yelled in surprise. For my part, I was mostly confused.

"Pwah, he will never learn when to let go, will he?" I heard mister Discord's voice saying. "Well, at least I guess I brought lunch. Why are you two looking at me like that? And where are our two-in-one guests?" His tone turned to falsely accusative. "You wouldn't have already mooned him, Celestia, would you?"
How come every time he appears, he finds a way to get on my nerves?
Is he talking about us? I think he is. And what does 'mooning' mean?
I'll... tell you when you are older.
That's your answer to everything!
"We're here!" I signaled, trying to move our arms under our noodly bonds.
"What?" mister Discord replied in a surprise tone. "Noodle, you know I can't bring you here yet! Don't worry, I'll send you back."

I blinked under the sticky pastas.

Is 'Noodle' our new nickname? Because I don't really like it.
I know you can hear me, Discord. Get us rid of these this instant!
"Don't try to mimick grumpy-boy's voice, Noodle. I'm surprised you can even do this."
"Discord, he is under this mess," Celestia explained.
"See what you did here? Touching Celestia and Luna with noodly appendages is badly-written stories' fuel, Noodle. That's why you can't get screen time anymore."
Oh for the love of... Recto, use your magic to get us out!
But I thought I shouldn't use it? 'Too much chocolate' and everything?

I heard claws snapping and I suddenly could see again! Sweet, sweet light. Noodles are icky. All cold and slimy, ugh. Talking about that...

"What's this white stuff on us? It smells funny," I asked, reffering to the white liquid covering our body and clothes.

The two alicorns looked at us wided-eyed and blushed, while Verso mind-palmed. Mister Discord extended a finger to sweep a drop of it and tasted it. Celestia and Luna glanced at him with a disgusted expression while he was nodding with himself, reaching a conclusion.

"Carbonara sauce. Definetely Carbonara sauce," he declared. He glanced at me and grinned. "And you should go get a bath. It seems our females hosts here are pasta sauce intolerant."
"Yay! Bath time is best time!" I cheered.
I sure hope they don't use this green gooey thing to do baths here. It tickles the lungs for a week each time...
I'm pretty sure that he means a more conventional kind of bath.
I gasped. You mean there are other ways to bath?
You know, that's actually a pretty sad thing to ask.

As it turned out, there is another way to bath than to simply wait in a translucid green goo for people to tell you to get out, as Verso soon explained me the process. Who would have thought? At least, I didn't have to inhale the water like I had to inhale the goo, so that's a start. No itchy lungs.

The bathroom is really worth a description though: I was sent to one one of the guest rooms to wash while Celestia and Luna discussed 'grown up problems' as mister Discord sayed.I gave our clothes except our underwear to a unicorn mare wearing an apron and discovered the bathroom itself.

And kinda regretted not having asked for protection glasses : the golden walls shone like compressed sun rays. When our vision finally adapted to the brightness, I stayed aghast for a second.

"It's enormous!" I gasped. "It's bigger than our room back home!"
I really wonder how much it costed. There's frickin' gold everywhere!
"Silly Verso, they're fairies! They just used magic to create it from scratch!" I replied, as I walked toward the gigantic golden bath in which I could probably swim if I wanted to.
It probably doesn't work like that. The inflation problems alone would simply...
"Bleh, maths. Tell me, do you know how to pour water in this?"
You do realize I've been here for as long as you have been, don't you? And you're speaking aloud again.
"It's easier than thinking back at you," I muttered while glancing at a faucet with a red gem above it. "Same color-code than on Earth? Nice."
Are they really using a ruby and a saphire to indicate the cold and hot water faucets? This is madness!

I suddenly got the feeling that the whole universe wanted me to say something, but I shrugged it off. I manually opened the faucets to get appropriately warm water, and started to inspect the rest of the room while it filled.

"Now, where did they put the cleaning powder?"
I think you would have better chances to find traditionnal soap.
"What are you talking about?"
You know, a greasy ball made out of animal fat... Scratch that, there's no way herbivores would be using that.
"Why would anyone do that?" I asked, midly disturbed. "It sounds weird."
Just look at the bottles next to the tub.

I quickly grabbed on of the plastic bottles that made Verso cringe for some reason - Why would they have plastic so soon after the lightbulbs?! - and read the label. Or so I tried anyway - it was covered in gibberish.

"Uh..."
Great! They don't use the same written language! I found it hard to believe they spoke like us, and Discord probably has something to do with it.

I squeezed some of the liquid into our hand and looked at the thick pinkish liquid that got out of it. We were unable to recognize the smell, but at least it was a nice one. Probably shampoo or body wash. Or fur wash. Do ponies even have body wash? Now that I think of it, how do they even use bottles without fingers?

Nearly half an hour later, we decided that we were clean enough and I got out of the tub in wich I only nearly drowned once. I levitated a towel to us and got out of the bathroom quickly, to enter the bedroom itself. I stared at the big cushion on the floor that probably served as a king-sized bed for small horses and walked to the cupboard, searching for clothes.

You know, I don't think they would have clothes for us stored anywhere if we are the only human to have ever come here.
"Nonsense. We're in a land of magical ponies that move cloud 'manually' and . I'd be surprised if we don't discover a wizard robe in our size somewhere."

As crazy as it may sound, though, there wasn't anything we could use in the entire room, so we were kinda stuck like idiots, waiting for clothes until I had the brilliant idea of using a few towels to simulate a roman toga. It was awesome.

We look ridiculous.
"You're just grumpy because you didn't think of it first."
I'm not 'grumpy'.
"Hey, now that I think of it, why didn't we ask mister Discord to get us new clothes, like before?"
Well... I...
"Keep thinking about that, I going back to talk with the Alicorns," I told him, opening the door to look at the three guards accompagnying us. "We're done. Could you all bring us back to the garden, please?"

Without a word, one of them nodded and we started to walk down the hall. I noticed the armored ponies all had the same neutral expression, just like the royal guards in England, as the database described them. So of course, I did the only logical thing in such a case:

"Are you obligated to keep silent and look boring all the time?" I asked.

Their lack of response was enough of an answer for me, confirming my thoughts and putting the next step of my plan into action. Said step being: making them laugh. As I started to make faces at one of them, Verso's voice rang through our head.

Please don't, this is childish.
Wrong, this is funny. I told him mentally. You see, you're grumpy, you can't apreciate funny things.
There's something else, you know. They may...
"It has been bugging me for some time, sir," The guard I was bugging finally said, unknowingly cutting Verso. "You have strange teeth."
... Notice that. Here's hoping they don't have problems with that.
"What do you mean?" I asked both.
"Well, you have sharp teeth and I saw bigger ones behind them. I was wondering, sir, what exactly do you eat with those?"

I blinked. I tend to do that pretty often lately. Go figure. I took a pensive posture, still trying to make him smile. After the obligatory thoughtful hums, I answered his question:

"Well, pretty much anything, in fact."
"What do you mean, sir?"
"Humans eat pretty much anything they can get there hands on, so I can eat wheat, some mushrooms, fruits, vegetables, cakes... Oh, and meat too, of course. Never got to try myself, but it is said to be rather tasty. I heard good things about beef or veal."

I heard Verso mindpalming as the guard looked at us with disgust and sickness in his eyes. It made me worry, it looked like he was pretty sick. Maybe he ate something he shouldn't have? Anyway, the other two ponies glanced at me, slighlty less disgusted than their counterpart.

"You are a meat eater?" one of them asked.
"Nah, we are omnivore. I told you so, I also eat plants and stuff," I repeated. Boy, weren't they paying attention?

The last one, a unicorn, made his horn shine a gray light for a second and I felt a tiggling sensation. He looked rather disturbed after that.

"It... You feel strange! My hunter spell doesn't know what to do with you!"
"Your what?" I deadpanned.
"It's designed to determine whether or not you are a hunting species, and it doesn't work!"
"Funny. How does it show it?"
"Green lights are peaceful ones, red ones are hunters. It stays gray with you!"

Another guard was about to say something when we conveniently arrived outside, just a half a minute of walking from the point where we left the ponified fairy godmothers and mister Discord. That alone wouldn't have stop them, but they were being pretty loud, especially Luna, who we could hear from here.

"I get it that he comes from a terrible place, Discord, and that he is a bit 'special', but that isn't enough of an explanation!" she shouted at the funny chimera. "We must help him as much as we can!"
"Luna, we don't know much about them, nor about their species," Celestia countered. "What may seems disturbing for us could be normal for 'humans', little sister."
Hey! They are talking about us!
Yes, but what are they arguing about?
"Don't even try that one with me, Celestia!" Luna growled, anger in her eyes. "I know first-hoofingly about the whereabouts of such an infection! And what we saw about his condition is obviously an advanced stage!"
Do they think we are sick? Is it because of the toga?
They haven't seen it yet, Recto. Maybe it looks like we have contracted an illness of this place? 'Wouldn't be that surprising.
"This 'Verso', as it calls itself, has convinced poor Recto, if it even is his real name, that they always cohabitated!"

Verso's half of our brain froze. We were about ten meters from them now, and Luna was turning her back to us, unaware of our presence. That didn't prevent both Celestia and mister Discord to realize where we were standing still. Celestia's pupils reduced to the size of pinpricks and she tried to stop her sisters'rant with little success.

"Luna..." she whispered.
"This parasite even has the gut of acting as if it owned Recto's body! You heard it on the mirror! We must get rid of him as soon as we can! I would have asked the Bearers to..."

She would probably have continued to explain her probably detailled plan haddn't Verso's souls abandonned its kinda frozen state to explode in fiery rage. I felt a lightning sensation flow through our nerves as he ripped me away from the commands and endured the painful state of controlling our body through the magical overload.

"I AM NOT A PARASITE!" Verso's voice quite litteraly boomed in a decent shockwave as he got to the control.

Author's Note

Yay, updates! Woohoo!

Now, I should (and probably could) have published this a heck of a lot sooner, but would you believe it is actually the sixth totally remade version of this chapter that I wrote? And that's without the edited or corrected ones. Nah, I just had a pretty big problem to introduce one of the plot points without it either getting completetly out of hand or being repressed into an oddly non-existent problem. And would you believe me, I'm actually delaying most of the problem onto the next chapter.

Which will come out.

One beautiful day.

Just kidding, it shouldn't take nearly as long as this one. After all, my first objective was to AT LEAST publish one chapter every week. I should write three other before sunday to keep up with my schedule.

Back to the business at hoof/hand/noodle, what did you think of this one? Please comment (and point out horrible errors that slipped through my corrections).
I hope you enjoyed.

Chapter 19: Waltz of the forest

Our first three weeks in Ponyville quickly went by and were greater than I could have ever imagined. After our magical outburst, pretty much everything went smoothly. Verso got better the next day and miss Twilight started to teach us magic again the following one. When we weren't having magical lessons with miss Twilight, we spent as much time as we could outside, often playing with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. We were finally told that Equestria was currently approaching the middle of its summer, which meant that days would last really long for some time. Miss Rarity made us a new set of clothes and tried to just give them to us again, but I got Verso into helping me repay her. We asked miss Twilight to teach us a gem detection spell and we went to some barren place not too far from town. Verso then did some big detection magic and quickly retrieved a massive amount of gems from there, that we gave to miss Rarity when we got back into town. She was clearly happy and hugged us. That was nice.

Verso also transcribed some vegetarian recipes that would be god for our health from somewhere in his memory and gave them to Spike and some restaurants in Ponyville. Well, he sold the recipes to these ones after he made Spike cook us some and showed it to them, but that's ultimately the same thing. But it let us have a deal with mister and miss Cake, the Sugarcube Corner's owners, who provided us with the sweet sweet nectar that us mere mortals commonly refer to as chocolate milk.

Verso says I should try to refrain from drinking so much of the stuff, but NO ONE is going to stop me.

Hum, back to the story. After the outburst, Verso wanted to learn more about attack spells. Miss Twilight sadly didn't seem to know many of them. She said that ponies rarely fight to begin with, and that unicorns usually just shoot magic lasers when they do. But she did teach him how to shoot electricity our of our fingers, basically the same spell that miss Rarity accidentally hit us with when we encountered her.

It took Verso Two weeks to be able to at least mimic most of miss Twilight's fighting and protection spells and learning about how they work. We also learned to teleport from short distances, which was plenty of fun but really complicated and taxing. When Verso was satisfied with our new abilities, Twilight started to show us some funnier spells, like the one that make a nice mustache grow on someone's face. When Pinkie Pie learned that I could do this one, we went on a rampage through the town, offering temporary mustaches to random ponies. That was pretty fun until I gave one to miss Rarity's little sister, which earned me a scolding from her.

We also had a few encounters with Luna, who taught us all kind of fascinating things about the sky, like how the stars could sometimes be used to read the present or predict the future or why miss Princess Celestia moved the sun the way she did. Verso knew about that one, but that was still nice to get it from her. She also told us about funny things happening in her court, or in the palace in general. And, strangely enough, mister Discord was nowhere to be seen.

One evening, Verso had been quieter than usual until we were sent to sleep by miss Twilight. When we were alone in our room, he broke his silence.

Recto, would you like to go on a little adventure?
"Wa do ya..." I tried saying as I brushed out teeth. I quickly spit it out and restarted. "What do you mean? We're already on an adventure! If being in a magical land of ponydom isn't an adventure, I don't know what is."
I meant it more like a quest. Essentially, I would like to do something and I'm pretty sure it could be fun on the way.
"Well, you've got me interested. What were you thinking about?" I asked as rinsed our mouth.
I wanted to pay a visit to the old capital of Equestria, in the Everfree Forest.
"I thought this was dangerous? Miss Twilight said that we shouldn't go in there."
Oh, where's your sense of adventure? It'll be fun, I'll be more than able to crush anything that would try to attack us and we get to visit an old spooky castle!
I nodded, convinced. I tend not to argue that much with Verso, his ideas are usually fun. "Okay. We'll ask miss Twilight for directions tomorrow."
No. I think it'd be funnier if we go there alone. And right now.
"At night?"
Yeah. It'd be beautiful.
I had to agree with that point. It was a cloudless night and the moon was shining brightly over the land. "But wouldn't anger miss Twilight? She didn't like the last two times we left without telling her all that much."
We'll be back before she even knows we're gone! Come on.

I hesitated for a few seconds before I gave my agreement. I opened the window and successfully teleported to the ground level. I then closed the window telepathically behind us and started to walk in the direction of the road entering the Everfree Forest. When we reached it, I stopped and looked at the sinister looking trees. A sudden gust of wind made me shiver and created creepy sounds from the trees. I was beginning to doubt the cleverness of this idea.

I gulped, a bit frightened and started walking down the road. Verso told me that, normally, we shouldn't have any unfortunate encounter as long as we stayed on it and kept quiet. I think that, on my own, I would have quickly turned around and went back to our room, but Verso was keeping me from being too scared by talking to me and pointing at interesting things out in the dark.

It went on like this for a few minutes before Verso abruptly asked me to stop. I did, and he focused on listening.

Let me out, please.

I did and he immediately looked around, particularly behind us. He grumbled something when he didn't find anything and activated his sense-field, extending it more than twenty meters in all directions. His eyes fixated on something he could feel behind a tree.

"Come out. I know you're here." Nothing moved so he repeated, louder and angrier. "If you force me to go there and fucking pick you up, I'm going to be really, really pissed off." I didn't know who he was talking with until I saw Lyra coming from behind a tree, looking down and ashamed. Verso grunted again. "Great. Of all the mentally challenged beings in this town, you decided to follow me. Why?"
"I... was actually just walking in the same direction?" Lyra tried, smiling awkwardly.
"Remember what I told you about not taking me for a moron? It applies now."
Lyra gulped down and stepped back. "I couldn't sleep so I was chilling in a park. I saw you walk into the Everfree and got curious. I swear that's all there is to it!"
Why are you scaring her again?
She followed us, Recto. That's suspicious. And she's a changeling.
What? But I thought you said you were mistaken!
I was. There was no changeling invasion. Just her and my sense field screwing up.
"So... What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" Lyra asked after a few seconds of silence.
"Not your business. Go back to Ponyville."
Verso turned around and resumed our walk. Soon enough, the aquamarine unicorn/changeling was walking by our side. "Where are you going to?" she asked, still smiling happily.
"Oh, for the love of... Get lost!"
Oh, come on! She's funny! Walking with her will be hilarious!
She's corrupting my mind with her awful puns!
Don't be such a drama queen. I'd like her to stay.
Verso groaned, massaged our nose and glared at Lyra, who looked like she hadn't even heard his earlier rebuttal. "So, where are you going to?" she asked.
Verso sighed. "We're going to explore the castle in the forest."
"That sounds interesting. Can I come?"
No. He thought rather loudly. "Yes," he said. "But stay out of my way if anything goes wrong. Is that clear?"
She saluted with a hoof, making me giggle at her false serious expression. "Aye aye, captain!"

Verso groaned and started walking a bit faster, trying to put distance between us and the changeling. Thankfully, she could walk a lot fatser than we could and probably had a lot more stamina too, so it was pretty pointless.

"Why are we going to the old castle?" she asked when she reached us again.
"I am going because of the old tomes stored there. Recto is going because this is an adventure of sorts. You are going because I obviously offended some kind of greater being that decided I should be punished in some horrible and uncommon fashion."
And for a greater comedy factor.
"Yes, and- ...What?"
"Why did you have trouble sleeping, Lyra?" I asked.
She blushed and looked away. "Well, Bonbon and I had... a disagreement of sorts over one of my center of interests and she asked me to sleep on the couch. Then, I got hungry and couldn't sleep."
"Well, why didn't you cook something, then?"
She blushed harder. "My... meals aren't something you can 'cook' alone?"
"Isn't there any other pony to help you? Or maybe we could help you ourselves."
Her face was beginning to turn into tomato-red shade and she furtively eyed our hands. "Well, I was hungry... And, well, you know, when you crave hands..."
"No," Verso harshly said, taking over. "Not just no but HELL no! What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Lyra stepped back, obviously scared by Verso's sudden outburst. "I... I didn't mean it like..."
"If you didn't mean it the way I think you meant it, I think I'll have to crush your skull immediately, bug," Verso growled. "Keep feeding off the ponies as much as you want, but don't you dare even trying with us."
"That's... That's not... What I meant was... would you pet me?"

Verso stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Lyra with eyes wide open, doubting for a few instants whether or not we had heard correctly. My reaction was more... immediate, per say.

As in, I took back the controls from his shocked mind and started scratching her behind the hears. She was so soft! And after the initial shock and surprise, she had a goofy grin on her face, which meant that she probably liked that.

"Ooh~ That feels nice..." she happily sighed. "I just knew hands would be great stuff..."
I giggled and started to continue walking down the road, still scratching her head, while Verso was still completely silent. "Your fur feels nice too. It must be great to be able to change into whatever you want, isn't t? You can give yourself the greatest fur of all the history of great fur if you want. That must come in handy."
"It does. But it's surprisingly hard to remember a form correctly. Sometimes, when I have to change for some reason, I even forget to remake my cutiemark!"
"Is that really important? I mean, it's not like every pony is checking out your flank all the time, is it?"
She chuckled. "I figure you may not understand it, as you're not a pony, but cutiemarks are really important to ponies. You can know a lot from a pony just by looking at it, after all."
"It is?" I glanced at the lyre on her hindquarters and looked back at her. "So why did you chose a lyre?"
She opened her mouth to answer, grinning, but Verso reacted faster, taking the front seat. "If you dare to make that joke again, I'll rip your vocal cords out of your throat," he hissed at her.
She closed her mouth. I blinked. A joke? What joke? I wanna hear the joke!
Please, don't. Even thinking about it makes my head hurt.
I took the controls back, disappointed, and looked at the aquamarine pony. "There's not only a joke to it, is there?"
She shook her head. "Cutiemarks represent the special talent of ponies. So I chose something I was pretty good at : playing the Lyre." Verso groaned for some reason, but stayed calm. "Besides, ponies tend to like music, so I can feed a bit off the love in the air."
"That's pretty smart."
"I know," she confirmed. nodding. "A lone changeling has to get creative to get food without a partner to feed them."
Something clicked in my mind, and I realized something didn't add up from the first time we met. "But, how did you convince Bonbon to act like your mom?"
Verso mindpalmed and Lyra stopped dead in her track, blushing a storm. "She... She's not my mom!" she cried. "Why would you think that?!"
"Well, she called you 'young mare' and all," I answered, justifying myself. "I just assumed..."
"We're dating!" she yelled. "We're the same age, for the Hive's sake!"

She said something else, but her voice was covered by the roar of a big creature that didn't sound all that far from us. Verso took over instantly and deployed his sense field. He spun around just in time to face an enormous ball of fur, claws and sharp teeth charging in our way. He immediately activated a shield around us while Lyra screamed in terror, and the beast rammed into our protection. Verso then charged a magical beam, opened his shield and fired at the beast, pushing it away and growl in anger and pain. It then started to circle us, waiting for its time, while we took a closer look at the creature : it was a giant lion with little bat wings on its back and a scorpion tail.

"Manticore," Verso muttered. He glanced at Lyra, who was trembling and pale, immobile as her eyes were fixed on the beast. "Hey, bug-pony!" he called. "You know if it's intelligent?"
"It... It's gonna eat us!"
"I'll take that as a 'no'." He popped our fingers, a dark smile forming on our face. "Which means I don't have to hold back at all."

Verso stepped forward and started charging another beam. The manticore roared and charged in our direction again. Verso shot his new beam at its face, making it growl again, but not stopping it. He willed a new shield in existence, against which the big furry beast crashed again. While it wasn't moving anymore, Verso caught him with telekinesis and raised him above the ground. He then calmly inspected it, both with our eyes and with his sense field.

"It's a pretty interesting creature," he said fascinated. "I don't think that its tail is poisonous, but I definitely wouldn't want to be hit by it. And it is a hunter too, not like male lions back on Earth. Its physiology is entirely different too!"
"What are you doing?!" Lyra managed to hiss over the manticore's growls. "It could break free at any moment!"
"No, it can't," Verso answered without even looking at her. "I'm a lot more powerful than it will ever be. And if it somehow manages to become a problem, I'm already holding its heart in my grasp. It moves, it dies."
"What are you waiting for, then? Get rid of it!"
Verso finally glanced in her direction, lightly surprised. "Someone asking me to kill something? That's new." Lyra looked away, looking guilty. "But you're right, buggy. We should get to the castle quickly, and it's slowing us down." He gently let the manticore down on the ground, still holding it firmly, and walked back next to Lyra.
"What are you doing? I thought you would kill it."
"Oh, I will. I just want to see how much damage one of my spell can do." Recto, get to sleep real quick, please. It's about to get ugly.
What are you going to do?
Something I clearly don't want you to see, but that I have to do.
Uh...
Don't worry, we'll be fine, and the bug-pony-
Lyra.
... will be fine too. I'll just wake you up soon, so that you can continue having fun on the way.
Oki doki then. Have fun!

As soon as Recto was away, I turned to face the aquamarine changeling next to me.

"You may want to look away. It's not going to be pretty."

She nodded, but didn't turn her gaze. I shrugged and turned back to the immobilized manticore. I had imagined a fighting spell that may or may not work while I was learning how to turned magic into lightning and how to lit a fire with Twilight. Problem was, I didn't really had the occasion to test it yet. I had the feeling that Celestia may be a bit upset if I had killed her former student.

Still, I wondered if it could work. I surrounded it in a shield bubble and released it from my telekinesis. It immediately started crashing against the glowing walls, hoping to break free and probably also to rip me in half with its claws. I started charging my spell. It was simple, if also horrible. Basically, the idea was to quite literally make its blood boil.

Yeah, hear me out before saying I'm uselessly cruel. First : yeah, I am. Second : it wasn't a spell designed to kill something horribly just for the sake of killing something horribly. I designed it so that I could terrify a group of opponents and avoid fighting most of them. Yes, it's an horrible way to die, but it prevents some of your friends to be killed by me too. So I charged the thing, opened the shield -which, by the way, made Thingy shriek- and shot it at the beast.

At first, I thought I had failed, as it started to charge me. Thankfully, one of its eyes exploded and it started roaring in agony as I could see a red mist escaping from anywhere it could. Its skin bloated until it cracked somewhere and a torrent of boiling red liquid started to leak from every opening it could find. The animal was still screaming, at least until I felt its lungs starting to boil too through my sense field. Unfortunately for it, the manticore was still alive at this point, its nervous system still working somehow, so I knew it could still feel the pain.

Thingy threw up. I guess the smell of cooking meat wasn't to her liking. I think I should feel bad for her, but I did give her a warning. And I'm kind of a bad person anyway, so I didn't really care in the first place.

When it finally died for good, I stopped the spell and got closer to inspect the remains. It looked positively horrible. Which was perfect. I don't think anyone would dare to attack something that could do that to you. Striking terror in the heart of your enemy is still a pretty efficient defense mechanism, after all.

"Yup. It's perfect."
"You're sick!" Thingy shrieked as she looked at me, horrified.
"Well, I'm not the one puking everywhere, so I'm willing to bet I'm a bit more healthy than you are," I replied, walking back to her.
She stepped back, fear in her eyes. "What kind of monster would do that?! You said you could kill it cleanly!"
I nodded. "I could have. But then, I couldn't have teste my new spell."
"What need is there for such a spell? It's evil!"
"Precisely." That shut her up, thankfully. "I'm not a nice human, changeling. Get used to it." She muttered something that I pretended not to hear. "Now, come on, we still need to get away from that carcass before other predators smell it."

I continued walking down the road, whistling a happy tune, effectively horrifying her even more. When we were far enough from the half-cooked corpse that I couldn't see it anymore, I woke Recto up.

I got woken up some time later as Verso and Lyra were walking to the castle again. Lyra was really quiet, contrarily to before the manticore encounter. Of course, walking silently with someone next to us is kinda awkward, so I made sure to break the silence rapidly.

"So, if you're a changeling, that means you can change your appearance, right?" I asked.
She blinked a few times before answering. "Y-Yeah. Wanna see how I really look like?"

I nodded and she was engulfed in green fire for an instant, making me shriek in surprise before as she turned into a black chitinous bug pony with entirely blue eyes and a turquoise mane. She stood on her back legs and extended her front ones, a big smile on her face.

"Tada~!" she exclaimed before she fell back on her four legs.
"That was awesome!" I shouted before Verso forced me to be a bit quieter. "You can do whatever pony you want?"
"Stallion, I can be nearly whatever I want in general, not just ponies. Here, look."

She transformed into a rather cute dog and jumped around easily. Then, she turned into a griffon and extended her really big wings, trying to look more imposing. From there, she turned into a butterfly and fluttered around us before she settled for a tiny pony-Lyra-form with bug wings and sat carefully on our head.

"It looks so fun!" I squeed in excitement. "Can you turn into a bird? Or a fish? Or a fish with legs? Nah, that one would be creepy... A lizard? Oh, oh, I know! Try to do a human!"
"Well, I could, but I haven't seen any other human than you, so I think I'll just turn into you, if you would let me."

I nodded, unintentionally throwing her off our head, and could barely stop myself from giggling. Lyra transformed and we were suddenly facing a near perfect replica of ourself. I giggled again and began circling her, examining our new clone under a maximum of angles, while Verso thought it was particularly creepy.

"You know, being suddenly biped makes me kinda dizzy. It's been a while since I assumed a form like this," I heard my own voice tell me, which is just weird.

She turned back into a pony and I just sighed. Verso metaphorically rolled his eyes and checked the mental map we were following.

We're about half an hour away from destination, now.
"Sounds like we're rather close, then," I answered aloud, making Lyra look at like I was weird.
It would, but I fear that the earlier manticore corpse may attract unwanted predators this way.
"Meh, we'll be fine. What could possibly go wrong?"

Just as I said that, we heard something howl not too far behind us. Verso mind-palmed and quickly took over, glancing behind us.

"Hey, bug-pony, could you turn into a manticore or something?"
Lyra shivered at his voice and looked away. "I-It's too big for me. The best I can do is a griffon."
"Okay. Tiny bug form it is then. I don't want you to be caught in the fight."

She immediately changed into the small form she took earlier and flew inside a pocket Verso was pointing at, still looking at the road behind us. When Lyra was finally settled, he extended his sense-field and blinked, surprised, just as some sort of rotten smell came to our nostrils, mostly uninvited.

"What the... What even are these things?" he muttered.

I noticed a few greenish glowing eyes coming rather quickly in our direction from the deep shadows under the trees. One of the creatures jumped out of the forest onto the road, giving me my first look at it: it was some sort of strange-looking wolf, made out of branches and leaves, some sort of green energy holding it all together. Lyra squeaked a surprised 'Timber Wolves' before Verso acted.

He telekinetically threw it against the nearest tree, shattering the wooden wolf to pieces, just as a couple more gush out of the shadows too. Verso shot one with a beam and raised a shield to block the other, before he shattered it too. A fourth one came out too and Verso simply caught it with magic, bringing him closer to take a better look.

"Interesting... It's sort of infused with energy..." he commented as another trio of wolves jumped out of the forest.

He immediately destroyed the creature he was holding as well as two of the other wooden wolves, the third one moving fast enough to escape his first attack. Verso then put a small shield around us to make sure we wouldn't be hurt, but the timber wolf completely ignored us and ran past us without even looking our way. That left the three of us pretty confused.

"What the f..."

He stopped when he noticed a soft rattling sound and realized that the shattered wolf pieces were levitating and putting the wolves back together. He groaned.

"Oh, this is going to take forever... Unless..."

He grinned and raised our hand in front of us, concentrating. A second later, the soft yellow glow that surround our hands when he uses magic took fire, without harming us. He then turned our hand into a flamethrower.

I kid you not. Streams of fire were escaping our palm, scorching the wood and burning the wolves' remains. That was fun.

Of course, it also had the the slight after-effect of making the trees catch fire too. And everyone knows that you're not supposed to burn forests because it's fun, especially when said forest is sitting right next to you living place. Plus, it could harm all the cute little animals that live there, and that just not cool! Verso summarized everything a bit quicker, as always.

"Fuck!"

He turned off his awesome flamethrower of awesomeness and started isolating the burning trees inside small shields, somehow making the fire go extinct. When the last flame died, he carefully put holes in his shield, creating a hissing noise for a few seconds before it calmed down and put his shields away.

"That's taken care of. Now, what the fuck was that?"
"Hey! How did you stop the fire?" Lyra squeaked. "You didn't even do anything!"
"Because physics. Now, shut up, I'm trying to think."
What about?
"That wolf... he didn't attack me at all... And in fact, none of them did. They were just running this way and we were in front of us."
Lyra gasped and looked in the shadows, her eyes turning into cat-like eyes. "You think they were running away from something?"
Verso needed, also looking in the darkness beneath the trees. "Yes, but I don"t sense anything in this direction. What could make wood wolves run away anyway? They're pretty much indestructible unless you burn them down, aren't they?"
"Those were Timber wolves, mister Verso. And I can't think of anything, though I heard that a dragon is leaving somewhere in the Everfree Forest. Perhaps they were scared off by it?"
"Maybe... Anyway, we should-"

That's when the gigantic snake jolted out of the woods, its mouth open wide enough to swallow us whole. In a heartbeat, he created a shield around us that stopped the immense jaws just a meter away from us, its arm-long fangs grating against the solid light surface. Until their venom pierced a hole through it, that is. It closed its mouth, ripping apart' the rest of the shield and retreated back in the shadows.

"Let's get the fuck away from here."
"Agreed," Lyra squeaked.

Verso booked it and ran as fast as we physically could (which didn't mean much; we were still not really fit) before the next attack of the giant snake. Of course, we heard it hissing behind us and crawling after us.

"I can't feel it! Why the hell can't I feel it?!"
"I don't know and I don't care! Run faster!"
"Thingy!" he said, catching Lyra with magic and levitating her next to us. "What the fuck is it?!"
"Watch out!" she called with an annoying voice while he was moving her. "It's a... Oh, by the Hive, let me back into that pocket! It's a basilisk!"
Oh! Oh! I know that! There's one in Harry Potter!
"Oh, for fuck's sake! Does it really kill by looking at you?" Verso asked as he put her back into our pocket.
"Yes! Now, run!"
"It's a fucking giant snake! I can't run faster than it can bite me!" He magically reaped a tree out of the ground and started swatting randomly behind us, earning a hiss of annoyance before something ripped the tree out of his grasp and threw it away. "Well, incendiary time it seems..."

He pointed a flamethrower hand behind us as we were still running, hoping to burn the snake. It gave less than enchanting results, having no effect whatsoever on the creature. We heard another hissing and Verso immediately dove to our left, narrowly dodging a giant snaky head that bit down where we were standing a second ago. Taking his chance, Verso fired a huge magical beam at its neck, only to it impact its scales uselessly.

"Hey, that should have hurt it at least!"
"Basilisks are known to be magic resistant," Lyra pointed out.
"What?!"
Uh oh.

We didn't have time to think a lot more about it, as the basilisk recovered from the missed strike and looked in our direction. We barely noticed the double pair of eyes on its head before Verso started running again. His mind was running fast, trying to find a safe way to get rid or to escape the huge deadly snake. He reinforced his sense field, forcing him to concentrate on it while running, which seemed to be pretty hard, as he was forced to slow down.

"Heh, I still can't feel him, but I can sense the 'hole' he makes in my field. That should be enough..."
"What are you doing? Go faster!" Lyra shouted. "We can't let it catch us!"
"No shit, Sherlock!" Verso growled. "I know what I'm doing, so shut up!"
"Hey, listen!" she replied. "I'm in as much danger as you are, so I have my right to PANIC too!"
What are you doing? I asked. We have to summon a pet phoenix to blind it and fight back with a magic sword! That's the only way to defeat a basilisk!
"Recto, now is not the time for loose references!"
"What did he say?" Lyra asked. Seeing as Verso was currently ignoring her in the favor of trying to near blindly swat at an immense snake, she became more insistant with the most annoying voice ever. "Hello? Hey, listen! Hello?"
"WILL YOU FUCKING SHUT UP ALREADY?!" he shouted, glaring quite angrily at her.

The basilisk, probably noticing that Verso wasn't as concentrated as he should have been, chose that exact moment to strike once again, throwing his head in our direction lightning fast, mouth open and fangs already dripping with venom. Verso reacted quickly, though, and used another spell miss Twilight taught us to raise rocks from the ground around us, giving us a stone shield.

The snake's fangs pierced it easily, but thankfully, the rest of its mouth didn't, making them stop just centimeters away from us. Unfortunately, some of the venom landed onto our sleeve, and Verso immediately cut off my connection with our pain receptors. He growled and ripped the clothing piece away, looking at our arm.

Oh, great, some of it made contact...
Isn't that, like, really bad?
Not that much. I'm just going to spend a really bad ten seconds.

He magically slowed our blood flow in our arm and created a tinier sense field that encased our poisoned arm. He then gritted our teeth and started to extract the poison already in our blood stream out. He was grunting a lot all the while, and Lyra looked like she was worried. When he was done, he let the small droplets of venom fall to the ground away from us.

"I... fucking... hate... snakes..." he panted.
"Are you alright?"
"As far as I can be. Now, about that snaky bastard..."

The basilisk seemed to be stuck, unable to remove its teeth from their stone prison. Verso darkly smiled until he felt something coming from above, which ended up to be the huge snake's tail. It used it to break down the stone walls with ease, which let us coughing with the resulting dust. The basilisk's tail quickly surrounded us and held us in the air, rising us to its four-eyed head while also starting to crush us.

Big trouble doesn't even begin to describe it.

Author's Note

You've been waiting for more than a month to get it, here it finally is!
I hope you enjoyed the read.
Now, onto some spoilers for the next chapter : snakes, History and royalty.
See you on chapter 20: Royal Blood.