Discovery

Crystal Mountain Resort, a town at the base of it’s namesake. It was just as it’s title said, a resort at the base of the long, massive mountain. Many a pony, griffin and the occasional smaller dragon even came to the town to spend a weekend or week on a vacation. While many who visited came during winter, it was a year round ski resort due to the snow never fully melting. Crime was relatively low, but that didn’t mean that it was non-existent. Which is why there was a small guard force there at all times.

Law was making his usual rounds about town, greeting ponies as he went. He was a Unicorn, who had a majority of spells based around stunning others. He didn’t like to harm others, and on the rare occasion that a stray pony did decide to go on a crime spree he much preferred to take them down non-lethally.

Pausing in place he turned to look over his shoulder and glance at the clock tower. It was just high enough to be seen from where he was located. The arms on it told him it was close to midnight. He’d be off shift in a couple of hours. And as usual he would have nothing exciting to report to his Commander.

If only he knew how wrong that assumption would be this night.

Continuing on his walk he hummed slightly to himself, smiling despite the cold that bit at his face. He preferred it up here, enjoyed it greatly. He wasn’t one for summer heat honestly. He didn’t like sweating as much as he did when he went down to Appleoosa every year to visit his relatives.

His self musings of the weather were interrupted when he heard glass breaking. “Well, and here I thought it was going to be a dull night!” He exclaimed with a small smirk on his face.

Law made his way towards the sound of the commotion. It was a small home, about three quarters of the way to the edge of town. From what he could tell it sounded like someone struggling around before the front door whipped open, a middle aged mare bolting out with fear in her eyes. She turned her head, saw Law, and bolted over to him.

“Please somepony is in my home! You have to help me!” She was hyperventilating, and it was all Law could do to calm her down.

“Easy Miss, calm down and stay here. I’ll go check it out.” He reassured her with a smile and pat on her shoulder with his hoof before making his way towards her open door. With a bit of hesitation he lit up his horn and slipped in, glancing around warily. She had come out unharmed, untouched. So he wasn’t sure if the assailant had merely ignored her or she got out before he could get to her.

A sound in one of the rooms down the hallway told him the direction of the suspect. He was alone, without back up at the moment. Most guards traveled in pairs, but in this small town, with such a low crime rate they rarely used such groupings. Many of the criminals who they did apprehend were rather easy to take down alone. But as he rounded a corner and saw what was currently going through clothing, he froze.

What he saw was… it scared him to say the least. It stood around six foot three inches tall, appeared almost emaciated, its body appearing to have lacked nutrition for who know’s how long. A first he thought it was a minotaur causing problems until he saw that its legs were misshapen, and it had a lack of fur across it’s body. Not to mention a pair of midnight black, feathery wings upon its back that appeared to have missed a preening or five. Long, scraggly brown hair ran down its back, appearing as if it hadn’t been cleaned or cut in a while and when it turned, Law was finally able to see that it was male.

For a moment neither of them moved, or even breathed it seemed. The creature before him was the first to react and with a slightly sluggish step he lurched forward, attempting to run at him, arms outstretched. Law could see his pale blue eyes, set in a oddly shaped face that looked as if whomever created it had grabbed a frying pan and gave it a whack to mold it into a slightly more flat area. It wasn’t to say it was ugly or disfigured. But its lack of a muzzle, short nose and smaller eyes made Law cringe before he shot off a stunning spell at him.

The creature merely stumbled back a few steps before moving forward again. So Law was forced to focus more energy into his horn, and charge up a stronger spell. A few feet away, those hands of his, much like a minotaur’s, reaching out for him. Had just brushed across his face before he released the energy charged in his horn in a bright flash.

It seemed to do the trick as the figure went flying back into the wall, slumping down onto the ground with a grunt, his head lolling about on his shoulders before he went still. With slow, cautious steps Law walked forward and sniffed, immediately jerking his head back with a snort at the horrendous smell that assaulted his senses. This thing smelled like it hadn’t cleaned itself in a long, long time. But with a shake of his head he focused on a levitation spell and lifted the unconscious creature into the air and carried him out of the small home.

The mare was still shaking when he came out, but with a quick reassuring nod he told her it was safe to return to her home. And with that he made his way towards the local jail. The trip there only lasting a few minutes. Thankfully his charge hadn’t so much as moved a muscle. Law chalked that up to the fact that it appeared as if it was weak from lack of nutrition.

Once they had arrived he laid it out in a cell and locked the gate before turning to a desk and beginning to write down a report. Man, how the hell was the Commander going to react to this one? He was quivering now, shaking. The adrenaline wearing off from his body. That thing could have probably killed him! He had stupidly walked in there without backup! Without help! What in Tartarus had he been thinking!

Minotaurs were one thing, he had dealt with a few in his time. But this thing… whatever he was, scared the living daylights out of him. He just hoped the Commander would have answers.

Twilight stepped off the train as they stood in her brother’s domain. The Crystal Empire was, as usual, beautiful in all ways. Once it had been threatened by King Sombra, but with the help from the girls, Spike and Cadence, the potential disaster had been averted.

Turning she watched the rest of her friends hop out of the train, all of them looking a bit tired. All except for Pinkie of course, who was hopping along humming some tune only she knew about in her head. She stopped in her bouncing, looked around side to side, then up before resuming her motions as she propelled herself forward in a way only Pinkie could ever understand. Applejack and Rarity passed by Twilight with soft mutters of how much of a pain Pinkie could be at times, and how even after eight hours of sleep they still couldn’t seem to wake up fully. It didn’t help that both of them had decided to try and out drink each other.

Next to walk by, or rather try to stealth by, was Fluttershy. The timid little pegasus seemed to prance from hoof to hoof and look back at the train. She stopped for a moment and started to inch back towards it before Twilight cleared her throat. “Come on Fluttershy,” she said with a smile. “I know you’re worried about your animal friends, but I can assure you without a doubt that Spike is taking good care of them!” She almost seemed to beam confidence.

Of course, back at Ponyville Spike sat with his arm crossed, a frown on his face and Angel Bunny staring him down. This little contest had been going on for a while after Spike had come to check on them to see the quaint little home of Fluttershy almost wrecked on the inside. He was going to have a little talk with Twilight after this!

Fluttershy sighed and looked down at the ground, scuffing her hoof slightly before nodding, though half hidden behind her mane as she did. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted when a rainbow colored blur shot past her causing her body to lock up in fright. For a moment, Twilight was a bit concerned, as her eyes were wide open, pupils the size of a needle tip it seemed and her teeth grinding so hard together she was afraid she was going to break them!

“Dash, was that necessary!?” Twilight turned toward the hot head with a frown on her face. “You nearly gave her a heart attack!”

Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy for a moment, waving a hoof before her face. “Uh… whops?” She said with a slightly sheepish grin, “Sorry Fluttershy. I didn’t mean to scare you like that.” She nudged the little pegasus, which caused her to squeek before looking around.

“O-oh my. I-I’m sorry what was that?” She asked.

Twilight shook her head with a smile, “No worries Fluttershy, come on now we need to get going. Cadence and my brother should be waiting for us.” She spread a wing and nudged Fluttershy with it, a smile on her face. Eventually she moved forward and followed the others.

The walk through the city didn’t take quite as long as expected, but that was because they were all too busy looking around at the beautiful buildings that surrounded them. So it came as a surprise to Twilight when her muzzle thumped into the castle gates. She stumbled back and rubbed her snout with a whine of pain. Then quickly shook it away as the gates opened up to reveal her brother and his alicorn wife standing there.

“Twily!” Shining Armour shouted.

“Big Brother!” Was the return response as Twilight shot forward and hugged him close, giving him a quick nuzzle before turning to Cadence with a smirk.

“Oh no.. not-” Applejack was cut off.

“Sun shine sun shine! Lady bugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little SHAKE!” Both Cadence and Twilight went through their usual greeting. Much to the amusement of Shining Armour who watched Applejack shake her head with a slight smirk on her face. The others had a similar look to Applejack’s, though Rainbow Dash was apparently trying to look anywhere but what happened before her, no doubt attempting to maintain her “cool factor” as she liked to call it.

Shining Armour looked at Twilight with a smile as he stepped up to her. “Well I assume you’re here about the odd creature that was detained at the Crystal Mountain Resort?” He asked. Twilight tilted her head a bit then her eyes lit up in that all too familiar fashion when something involving science came about. It brought a grin to Shining’s face as he watched her almost immediately fall into her element.

“They caught it! How did they do that! Wait… what do you mean ‘it’?” She looked slightly confused. She’d been so caught up in the aspect of something being found that she didn’t really process what she heard until a moment later. So it appeared that whatever was caught must not have been seen before? Maybe it was some kind of creature thought extinct? She frowned ever so slightly at the thought of this.

“We don’t know Twilight. The other night one of the Guard’s pony’s was on patrol when a mare came rushing out of her home. She claimed she had an intruder so he went in to check it out. Apparently it didn’t put up much of a fight. He was able to stun it and get it back to lock up for now until it can be examined, or rather He apparently from what I’m told.” Shining sat back on his haunches and looked at his sister with a shrug. “That’s about all I know for now. I’ve been far too busy at the moment to physically go look for myself. But I figured if you were coming you could go ahead and do it yourself. Might find something new out.” He said with a slight smirk.

Twilight couldn’t help but let a small grin replace the frown she had on her muzzle. With a nod she bounced in place a few times then settled with a soft clearing of her throat. “Well then, I think we should head out immediately! We have no time to waste and I want to figure this out as soon as possible!” She grinned and looked to the others, who let out soft groans but nodded to her in compliance. “Just point us in the direction and we shall get going!”

Shining let out a soft laugh and motioned for her to follow him. She did so with the others trailing behind her as they weaved their way towards the north side of the city to a carriage that awaited them. “This should get you there in a couple hours Twilight. Once there, find a guard pony named Law and he’ll let you see the thing, whatever it is.”

She nodded and hopped in after the other’s had gotten in, with a small smile on her face, waving a hoof to her brother before the carriage started moving.

Around two hours later they came upon the resort, Pinkie practically fogging up the window with her face pressed to it and breathing heavily. “Oh look at all that snow! I want to go skiing now!” She said with a large, almost crazed grin on her face.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Pinkie, you didn’t even bring ski’s with yo-” And as if on cue, Twilight was cut off as a pair of ski’s appeared beside Pinkie Pie. It was all Twilight could do not to scream at the obvious breaking of the laws of reality! How Pinkie did it, she had no clue, and probably never would!

The sugar loving pony simply grinned at her before glancing back out the window, almost seeming to vibrate from excitement. The others had just as slack jawed and confused looks on their faces as Twilight did at that point. They don’t think they ever could figure her out, and they’ve tried before. Sighing, Twilight shook her head and looked at Rarity who opened one of the many suitcases she had and produced the winter clothing she had made for each of them. None of them were too terribly unique as Twilight had specifically said that they needed to be functional, not fashionable, especially in the cold weather. Each one was made to match the coat color of their owners with a thick faux fur coating inside to help retain their body heat within. Once they received their coats they all slipped them on and then took the matching wool cap to keep their heads from getting chilled by the cold wind. Each coat covered nearly down to their hooves for maximum warmth. Twilight, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash all had slits to fit their wings through so they could fly, and were wide enough to allow them to easily pull them in least the cold got to the feathers.

When they came to a stop they all hopped out and made their way to the hotel nearby, checking in rather easily thanks to her brother sending a message ahead for reservations. She had not expected that, but then again, if Shining knew they were coming to the Crystal Empire he may have anticipated they were going to head this way once he told them of what was captured.

They found their rooms with little trouble, the layout of the building quite simple and easy to navigate. It had three floors total, with a magical lift that would carry ponies from one floor to the next with the help of a unicorn that acted as an attendant for each one and would bring them up to each floor. Clamps would lock down onto the platform to keep it still once they stopped and minimize the amount of Qi the Unicorn would have to focus to maintain a stable altitude. A vertical bar at the back of the lift had a small light that would flick on when a pony on another floor would call for it, allowing the Unicorn to determine which floor he needed to go to.

Simple, yet effective, thought Twilight as she stepped off with the others and made their way to their respectable rooms. Once they had settled in they set off for the jail house. Just as her brother had said, a guard named Law was at the desk. When they came in he glanced up at them, and blinked as he saw Twilight. Quickly he moved to stand and bow to her. “Princess,” he said with an exhausted sounding sigh. It had been a long couple of days at this point.

“You must be Law?” Twilight asked with a smile as she watched Pinkie glance at several items around the room, appearing to be studying some of the older items that clearly were some sort of antiques from times before. Even Rainbow Dash, who usually called such things “Nerd stuff” was walking around looking at them. She had gotten so lost in thought from watching the others that she hadn’t heard the guard.

“Ehem…” She was snapped back to reality as the guard cleared his throat. “My apologies sir. What were you saying?” She asked with a slightly sheepish grin on her face. The guard merely smiled at this before restating what he had been saying.

“The detainee is down here, please follow me. This is an odd one, I’ve never seen anything like it, Miss Sparkle. It has hands like a minotaur, and stands like one, but its body is devoid of a coat except for the top of its head, face, and chest. The strangest thing though, is that it appears to have wings!” This caused Twilight to pause mid stride and blink. “Excuse me, what?”

He looked at her with a nod. “Yes, wings, Princess. Whatever it is, it has wings!”

Now that surprised her. It wasn’t a dragon or pegasi. And yet it had wings? What kind of creature was this? She continued to follow him until they came to the cell. What she saw in there made her gasp loud enough for the others to come rushing down the hall and to her side. All of them appeared shocked by the creature before them.

“What IS that thing!?” Rarity said with a slight hint of disgust. Earning her slight cuff to the back of her head from Applejack, who shot her a look.

They all took a step back as it turned to them, staring at each of them in turn. But rather than something fierce, and dark, all they saw was a male of some sort that appeared confused and lost. His eyes looked between all of them and he backed into the wall slightly. Rainbow Dash took a look at his wings with a curious gaze and squinted.

“Those suckers don’t look like they’ve been taken care of in a long time. With the state they’re in now, he couldn’t fly to save his life!” She actually appeared a bit sad for the creature before them. “Wonder how long he’s been like this.” She whispered.

What was initial fear and shock from the girls turned to curiosity as they stared at him longer. They couldn’t move him, not yet. They had no clue if this was a ploy that he had crafted to lower their guard but they couldn’t trust him just yet. It was clear as Twilight looked around that all of them needed some sleep at least, but she turned back to what was in the cage and spoke, “Can you understand me?”

She got only a confused stare, though he at least seemed to react to her voice, if only the reaction were for him to attempt to become one with the wall. Twilight sighed slightly and shook her head. Then brought her hoof up to her chest.

“Twilight,” she said. “My name is Twilight, and these are my friends Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity.” She pointed each one out as she mentioned their names. Then back to herself. “Twilight.” She repeated the name and watched the creature look at them all.

Silence hung in the room after she spoke. The creature before them stared at each one individually. His gaze searching for something more than just what they looked like. And then all at once they heard it, like a whisper in their mind.

“Isaac, my name… is Isaac."

Author's Note

And there's the third chapter. Thanks again to Zephyr for being the awesome editor he is and helping me by pointing out my mistakes! Give him a round of applause everyone! Until the next chapter!