Endstone and Harmonyby PrincessOfTheEndChaptersChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter OneA yawn, a blink, a realisation. It took Faeron roughly 10 seconds to realise she was lying on a stone floor. This wasn't too different from normal; except she distinctly remembered falling asleep in a tree. And she could feel... Something, wrong with her limbs. She yawned, wincing as she felt sharp teeth when her mouth closed. 'Still need to get used to that...' She thought, sighing. Sitting up, she noticed why her limbs felt different. And shoved a hoof in her mouth to stop herself screaming. A hoof. Breathing heavily, she took it back out of her mouth and examined it, wincing at the sight of the nasty cuts caused by her teeth, which were dripping purple blood. It was... Well, it was definitely a hoof anyway. The way the joints moved as she slowly stood up were more supple than any horses she'd seen, though, and her... Forelegs moved like an arm with an extra joint. She took a few shaky steps experimentally, and, confident she wouldn't just fall over, she started looking around. The room she was in was quite large, with tapestries on some of the walls. It was also rather dilapidated, with the tapestries ripped and faded, and many of the walls cracked with the ceiling mostly obliterated. It reminded her of- 'No. Don't think of that', she told herself. 'It's over, it's in the past.' She spotted something blue in the corner of her eye. Turning towards it, she blinked and shuffled over to her bright blue alchemy bag, which was lying on a small pile of broken bricks. She frowned and nudged her hoof inside it. It hit something cold, hard, and glossy-feeling, which was either her sword or one of the handy gems she'd been saving. She sighed in relief; at least it wasn't empty. She took a few minutes to get it around her neck, and when it was safely there, she tested the flexibility of her foreleg by sticking it out and feeling for all the joints. A thought occurred to her: If she had no fingers, where were her rings? She glanced around, not seeing the black and blue rings that had come in handy several times. As an afterthought, she sent a small pulse of magic through her body to see if whatever had altered her had moved the rings. Two results, somewhere around her... Ear? Shakily, she lifted one of her forelegs up to her head, and felt the two metallic rings attached to her pointed shaped ear. 'Okay, earrings. That's... Fine. It's fine.' She exhaled carefully and placed her hoof back on the ground, wobbling slightly. Now she just needed to make sure they still worked. She glanced around and, deciding it wouldn't be a good idea to find out what mode it was on by throwing a fireball into a dilapidated castle, she lifted one of her forelegs up and pressed it down in the air. It hit an invisible surface. Smiling, she repeated the process with her other three legs, absently noting that her hind legs moved like ankles, until she was standing in the air a foot above the ground. Happy that her first arcane focus still worked, she glanced over to a spot in the room and flicked her ear, and the world distorted for half a second before refocusing to show she was now on the ground, facing a tapestry. 'That's good, they both work.' Faeron didn't particularly need a void ring, since she could teleport without one, but it was handy for if her internal energy was depleted too much to teleport on her own, and all she needed to use it when she was tired was a half-charged Klein Star. She looked around again and blinked. Wasn't it lighter a second ago? "I can't picture anything. It's too dark." Twilight Sparkle said, squinting in the direction of the topsy-turvy Ponyville. Discord promptly dropped her. "Well, give it a few minutes and you'll see it in the beautiful light of day. Or not." He shrugged and flashed away. Twilight shook her head and frowned. "Ponyville, the chaos capital of the world?" She stamped her hoof. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" She said determinedly. "Don't worry, you won't." Fluttershy laughed, skating past. Twilight groaned. This was going to be frustrating. Faeron glanced up. The moon was in the sky. It was a crescent, and it was surrounded by stars. Quite a lovely sight. Only... "Since when was the night sky tinted blue?" She muttered. Normally the night sky was darker black, more like her skin. Maybe it was getting to be early morning? Everything tended to have a bluish tinge before sunrise. Faeron shook her head. 'The time of day doesn't matter.' She thought. 'I need to find out where I am.' She glanced at her hooves, and back at the sky. It was probably stupid, she had never been quadruped before, but she jumped. And kept going, as her ring kicked in. Flying was simple, and it didn't take too much energy, so it was a good way to travel... Especially when there was a good chance she'd trip and sprain something. She focused on the feeling of floating, and guided herself to a stop a little higher than the roof of the castle ruins. Which seemed to be in a forest. She glanced around and saw what looked like a building past the forest's edge, and started towards it... When the sun rose. Faeron skidded to a halt in midair, and looked at the sky, careful not to look at the sun. Sure enough, broad daylight. She shook her head in disbelief. 'That's not possible...' She thought, trailing off in her mind. Possible or not, it just happened... She sighed and kept on going towards the treeline. She needed answers, and civilisation was the best place to find them. 'Let's just hope nobody freaks out about a talking ender horse...' Author's Note Welp. It's time. Any context-related questions can be answered here, the ask blog for the OC being used in this story. Chapter TwoFaeron sighed and landed near the treeline. The sun had set and risen twice, which still confused her. Although, it wasn't quite as confusing as the checkerboard pattern the ground past the forest seemed to have. Or the fact that the ground seemed to be emanating entropy. She breathed in and absorbed a little of the surrounding flux, restoring the energy she lost while flying, and making the air a little less heavy with rogue magic. She sighed lightly. Excessive amounts of magic in the air always made her uncomfortable. "Well, what do we have here?" A voice purred from behind her. Faeron whipped around, but saw nothing. Frowning, she turned to start walking out of the forest, and came face-to-face with... Something. Whatever it was seemed to be a mishmash of several different creatures, although words for it as a whole were lacking. Faeron felt uneasy, it had a very heavy magical aura. "It's not every day you see something like this, and you're not one of mine..." It said, rubbing its chin with a golden talon. Faeron backed up a few steps, glaring at it. "...What, or who, are you?" She asked, trying to ignore the pressing aura of warp coming from the being. It pouted. "You don't know me? I'm Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony!" The newly introduced Discord said with a flourish (his name even spelling out in flowery letters above his head), and his pout shifted into a grin. "And you, well, you are curious." He finished. Faeron blinked as he flashed away. "Interesting how? The teeth, or something else?" She muttered. Discord's voice sounded from above her. "Oh, the teeth are indeed interesting, but you just reek of chaos. Why would that be?" Faeron glanced up and saw him floating in the air above her head, looking down at her. "It... May be from the entropy I absorbed, this place has an abundance of it." She said quietly. She didn't know whether it was a good idea to tell him that or not. "Mm, perhaps, but I don't believe I've heard of a pony able to absorb entropy before." Discord's eyebrows turned into white roses. "What has Celestia been up to since my imprisonment?" Faeron blinked. "...Who's Celestia?" Faeron asked, ignoring the rest of the sentence. "Oh, nobody important, now, you were saying?" Discord snapped his paw and summoned what looked like green tea. Faeron stepped back a little. "I... can absorb excess magic, usually the discarded kind left over from spellcasting... Or the stuff spilling out from an aura node if it overloads." She said, starting to turn away. This guy was giving her the creeps. "Oh come now, don't you want to have a little fun?" Discord grinned, floating in front of her. "Lets see how you tick." He said. Faeron backed away a step and let out a low growl. She hoped he didn't mean what she thought he did. Faster than she expected, Discord floated down and prodded her in the back of the head. She suddenly felt a powerful ache in her skull, like her mind was being pressed. Her vision started swimming, and for a second before her vision went dark, she could swear she heard a hum. "Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing!" Discord said, lifting a glass of chocolate milk to his lips. "Not as wonderful as friendship!" Twilight Sparkle and her friends announced their presence. Then did a double take. Next to Discord's throne was a pitch black pony with jagged teeth, and unfocused slit eyes, which were letting off a malevolent indigo light. The pony's mane was a ruffled violet that seemed to shine a little. "What in Equestria did you do to that pony?!" Twilight glared at Discord. She hadn't seen any ponies with changes like this yet. He frowned, then smiled. "Absolutely nothing. Well, I may have messed with her mind a little bit, but other than that she was like this when I found her." He said smugly, drinking his glass and throwing the chocolate milk away. "Are you really trying this again?" "That's right! You couldn't break apart our friendship for long" Applejack stamped her hoof as she finished. Discord rolled his eyes. "Oh Applejack don't lie to me, I'm the one who made you a liar." He started pulling the elements of harmony towards him, bringing the bearers with them. "Will you ever learn?" Twilight Sparkle frowned and teleported among her friends, putting up a magic bubble and guiding it and her friends to the ground, where it promptly popped. "I'll tell you what we learned, Discord. We've learned that friendship isn't always easy. But there's no doubt it's worth fighting for!" She stamped her hoof. Whatever Discord did to the pony next to his throne, it would hopefully be undone when they used the elements. "Eurgh, gag!" Discord made a face. "Fine, go ahead, try and use your little elements! Friend me. Just make it quick." He teleported from his spot in front of the bearers into his throne. "I'm missing some excellent chaos here." He grinned. Beside his throne, the pony was staring at the bearers, making an unsettling noise. "Alright ladies, lets show him what friendship can do!" Twilight nodded at her friends as they powered up the elements, but a shout startled them. "Wait wait wait!" Pinkie Pie opened her mouth under a cotton candy cloud for a few seconds, before bouncing over to her friends and growling. Discord yawned. The six ponies started glowing, and the gemstones on the necklaces started letting off beams of light. Discord opened his eyes as the beams whizzed past him. "What's this?" More beams of light shot from the necklaces. "No." Twilight's eyes started glowing, followed by the rest of her friends, and a bright light formed around them that turned into a bright rainbow, which headed towards Discord. "Noooooo!" Discord screamed, raising his arms as if to shield himself as the Elements of Harmony impacted him, turning him to stone. The Elements created a dome of light which covered all of Ponyville, expanding to rid Equestria of the chaos Discord brought. The pony next to Discord's throne collapsed, and was laying on the floor when the light of the elements disappeared. As the elements deactivated, the bearers dropped to the floor, and watched as the stone statue of Discord fell to the floor. But most directed their attention to the black shape where Discord's throne used to be. Fluttershy fluttered over to the black shape on the ground, followed by her friends. The rise and fall of the pony's sides meant they were alive, which was good. Fluttershy, however, froze up when she got close enough to see the pony's face. "Twilight...?" She said worriedly. "Yes Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, not close enough to see what Fluttershy was talking about. "Her teeth didn't change..." Everypony froze. Author's Note This went a bit fast, in my opinion. Constructive criticism welcomed; if you know a way to make this chapter better, I will happily hear your explanation. I might not be able to post a new chapter next Friday, because I'm going camping and there is no internet or electricity there, so my computer will only have battery power for me to work on it. And my handwriting is really slow. Chapter Three'Ow, ow, ow, ow...' The first thing Faeron noticed was a pounding headache. Her limbs were tingling with pins and needles, and she felt a little bit sick. She groaned, putting a hoof to her head, and shivering a little as she remembered what had happened. That guy, Discord, must have done something to her head. Although why she could vaguely remember evil laughter and rainbows was beyond her. She could hear talking, but the headache made it hard to concentrate on words. Something about teeth? 'Not important.' Rubbing her head, she blearily opened one eye, and squinted it almost shut when the light stung. 'I guess it's daytime...' she thought as her eyes re-adjusted, revealing clear blue skies. "Excuse me?" Faeron froze for a second, then twisted her head in the direction of the voice. Then blinked. Standing there were six colourful, vaguely horse-ish creatures, two of which were glaring suspiciously at her. The other four looked mostly apprehensive. 'Uh oh.' One of the two in the front nudged the other, who quietly spoke. "Um, are you okay?" Faeron blinked, then attempted to nod, but her position made that difficult. "I'm fine, I guess. I just need to..." she trailed off as she focused, and the world twisted in on itself for a second. It twisted back out, and she was upright, in the air. She landed with a faint 'thud'. She looked towards the group, and found herself staring into a pair of blue eyes. When the mystery mare disappeared in a shower of ethereal sparks, Twilight's jaw dropped. She felt a slightly different than normal— but familiar—magical wavelength as it happened, but it was impossible! Earth ponies couldn't- A fresh burst of sparkles signalled the mare reappearing, except she was upright this time, rather than flopped on her back. Twilight squinted, looking for a horn, but saw none. This only caused her to gawk further. "Hi! My name's Pinkie Pie, what's yours?" Twilight blinked as she realized Pinkie was suddenly in front of the mare, who looked as lost for words as you can look with teeth taking up most of your visible jaw. "I, uh-" "Take your time!" Pinkie smiled as the mare violently shook her head, shivering for a moment. "My name is Faeron?" Pinkie cocked her head at the answer. "Really? You don't seem so sure about that." The mare blinked and said slowly, "You'd think I'd know my own name." Pinkie grinned. "Well?" The mare huffed softly. "Like I said, Faeron." She paused and added hesitantly, "nice to meet you." Twilight blinked, shook her head, and stepped forward, picking one of the thoughts running through her head. "Excuse me, but how are you feeling? You were in close proximity to Discord when we used the Elements of Harmony on him. There shouldn't be any adverse affects, and you've already said you're feeling okay, but it hasn't happened before and we don't know what the effects are," she asked. Faeron looked at Twilight for a moment, before blinking and glancing at the floor. "Well... I'm physically fine, but my magic stores can't seem to be able to tell whether they're mostly in flux or if they're pure vis. It's giving me a headache, actually," she answered. Twilight blinked. What? Author's Note This. Took TOO FUCKING LONG. And it's shorter than the thing I wrote in one weekend! Five hundred ninety compared to six hundred twenty something! (granted, that one is in a journal format, and it's based off a more fleshed out idea than 'this character of mine appears in Equestria for some reason lmao') So here, have a short chapter because my brain broke and I don't know what I'm doing with this story (I want Twilight to study Faeron's magic but that's about it) Chapter FourLooking at her magic stores with her mind's eye, Faeron was very confused. On one hand, her stores seemed to be soaked in flux, and she'd probably get a nosebleed trying to fix it. On the other hand, the flux kept on purifying itself for a few seconds at a time, before tainting itself again. She was getting concerned about the potential Warp effects she'd get from this. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" The purple horse creature spoke again. Faeron glanced up at her and shrugged, grimacing. "My magic keeps switching between 'in flux' and 'pure aura', I have no idea why, and I'm getting a headache trying to think of the implications." The purple one blinked a few times. "Okay, I assume 'flux' is as in 'instability,' which wouldn't necessarily be good, but what was the 'vis' thing you mentioned?" She asked in a curious tone. Ah. So they, or the purple one anyway, didn't do thaumcrafts. Faeron paused for a moment to think, then replied, "Vis is essentially pure aura. What happens when an aspect is separated from its object and purified." She suddenly noticed that the necklaces each being was wearing, or a large tiara in the case of the purple one, each contained an vibrantly shining aura node. "And it occurs naturally in aura nodes, like the ones you're wearing. Uh, you might not be able to see them though." She raised a hoof and pointed at Pinkie Pie's necklace, her being the closest. Pinkie promptly looked down. The purple one's horn lit up, levitating the crown off her head and onto a raised hoof, frowning slightly after a moment of study. "No, not really, unless 'aura nodes' look like gemstones...?" she asked. Faeron shook her head. "Nodes look like little sources of light, just a small glow, at least to normal eyes. Mine aren't exactly... normal, though." She focused a little on dilating and narrowing her pupils, irises sparking as she did so. Pinkie Pie leaned over a little to see, and the purple one put the crown back on her head to walk forward a few steps. "They're slit, like a cat's. Are you nocturnal?" she asked. Faeron took a moment to think on that. "Possibly? I sleep when I need, but the End doesn't really have a 'day'. It has no sun." Everyone in front of her froze. Some of them actually started gaping. The purple one twitched a little. "Okay, define... End. Is it a time or a place?" Faeron only needed to register the question before she knew how to reply. "A place. It's the name for my home, a dimension of void with some islands floating in it." She paused before adding, "it's not the most hospitable place besides the few inhabited areas." The purple one blinked and looked like she was about to ask another question, when one of the others in her group nudged her. "Twi, shouldn't we be sending a letter to the Princess now that Discord's a statue again?" Twilight blinked. Right, she'd forgotten that. She should probably go and get Spike and- Spike! "Rainbow Dash, could you fly to the library and make sure Spike gets some stomach ache medicine? Princess Celestia sent all of my friendship reports through his fire, and when I left he wasn't feeling well..." Twilight's ears flattened. "I should probably have helped him but I was too focused on helping all of you." Rainbow saluted and flew towards the Golden Oaks. Faeron watched the rainbow contrail fade with clear curiosity, and Twilight looked at the rest of her group of friends, sans Pinkie, who was still standing next to Faeron. "If any of you have anything you'd like to do, we can meet back at the library in an hour." Twilight said. Applejack thanked her and started heading towards Sweet Apple Acres, and Rarity started on her way to Carousel Boutique. Fluttershy hesitated before making off in the direction of her cottage. Pinkie Pie, surprisingly, stayed where she was. Although, maybe she didn't, there was a dust trail... Twilight raised an eyebrow at her, to which the pink mare shrugged. "The Cakes were still in Sugarcube Corner when we left last time, and I can't check on everypony in Ponyville, so... I'm good!" Pinkie started hopping in place. "Library?" "Library," Twilight nodded. She turned a little to look at Faeron. "Could you come too? I'd like to ask you a few questions," Twilight said. Pinkie nodded vigorously. "Me too! Like, what's your favourite food?" Pinkie asked, bouncing in the direction of the library as Twilight started walking. Faeron hesitated for a split second before following. "I'm not too sure what my favourite food is. Apples I suppose. This place is called Ponyville?" Author's Note I found a good spot to cut the chapter off, luckily. Tell me what you think of the illustration! I might replace it with a different one but that seemed good enough, although it looks a little distracting. Critiques are welcomed, by the way! Chapter Five"So then I said, oatmeal, are you crazy?" Pinkie Pie finished her story. Twilight giggled, although Faeron just stared. Her eyebrows were slightly creased. "I don't get it." She admitted. Pinkie opened her mouth to explain but before she could say anything she walked into the front door of the library. "Ow. We're here!" She announced before rubbing her head. Faeron looked at the library for a moment. "I've never seen a library inside a tree before. Houses, but not a library. Or at least not a genuine one rather than a book collection." She said. Twilight looked at her in surprise before opening the front door, stepping inside. "Spike! Rainbow Dash!" She called. There was a thud coming from upstairs, and as Twilight walked further into the public area of the library Rainbow Dash appeared at the top of the staircase. "Hi Twilight! I think Spike is feeling a little better; Princess Celestia ran out of letters," Rainbow grimaced. A pile of blankets shuffled to sit behind her, and a claw poked through one of the layers around the front and pulled it down, revealing Spike's face. "Hey Twilight," Spike said. His voice was hoarse. Twilight's ears drooped. "Hi Spike. Did you take any medicine?" she asked. Spike nodded, and Twilight relaxed. She hadn't noticed how tense she'd been. "We need to send a letter but I don't think it would be very fair to ask you to send it after all that..." she trailed off. Should she just wait until Spike was better? "Maybe Rainbow Dash could fly to Canterlot and deliver the letter that way! Ooh, or maybe the princess will come here on her own? The elements do make a pretty big light show!" Pinkie Pie waved her forelegs in the air for emphasis. She had a point, Twilight thought. "Twilight, if I can send a letter when I have a cold I can send one now!" Spike argued. Twilight shook her head firmly. "It wouldn't be fair to ask you to send it right now. But—" Twilight raised a hoof as Spike opened his mouth to interject. "—if you're really that adamant about it we'll wait until everypony else gets here, and then we can think about it." Spike sighed, relenting, then raised an eyebrow, looking behind Twilight. "What's with her?" Twilight turned around and saw Faeron staring into space with a frown. "Are you o-" as Twilight started, the space in front of Faeron flashed bright purple. "What was that?" Twilight asked, blinking spots out of her eyes. Faeron looked at her sheepishly, a small, floating, glowing symbol of a tree where the flash came from. "I didn't mean for that to flash so brightly. My bag is missing, so I made a waypoint for me to come back to after I've found it." Faeron gestured at the glowing tree. "A waypoint?" Rainbow Dash echoed. "I can explain after I've got my bag," Faeron said, before vanishing in a burst of sparks, just like she had earlier. Twilight stared at the sparks and the symbol in the air for a moment before sighing and turning back towards Spike and Rainbow Dash. Spike had a vaguely startled look. "Did you bring a teleporting earth pony into the library or was I just seeing things?" Spike asked. Twilight sighed again, bordering on a groan. "I think I did, and she left before I could ask any questions." In the middle of teleporting, Faeron made sure to spend an extra few seconds in the ether. She could feel a faint string of her magic which she recognised as the binding she put on her alchemy bag, and used the string to make sure she came out of the ether in the right place. As she left, she noted that it didn't feel like the ether for any of the realms she recognised. The world untwisted, and she was standing at the edge of the forest she was in before. Her bag was lying on the ground, a bit of dirt kicked up around it. She frowned, and rather than take a few minutes to get the string over her neck manually and probably get her face dirty, she used a bit of magic to pick it up like hands. She noticed it took a little less energy to do so than it normally would, but there was a surprisingly high saturation of ambient magic there still, so it was probably helping. After her bag was once again safely attached to her, she focused on the waypoint she'd set, and let the world twist for her once more. *pff* "-stop, pl-haha-please! I g-haha-give up!" Faeron stared for a moment when she regained her her vision of the tree library. Just off from the staircase, "Twilight" was sitting down with a flailing and laughing purple and green mess. Her horn was glowing magenta, and the same glow surrounded several feathers, which were attacking whoever was in front of her. "L-ha-Look, the-haha- other pony is back! Go talk to ha-her and sto-h-p tickling meeeeee!" he managed to squeak out. Twilight turned to look, lowering the feathers, and smiled. "Hello again. You got your bag, I see," Twilight said. Faeron nodded slowly. "I'm afraid to ask what happened in the few minutes I was gone that led to that..." she said, looking at the green and purple scaly- Faeron tensed and recoiled. "Is that a..." she trailed off, looking back at Twilight. "Oh, Spike? He's a baby dragon, and my number one assistant!" Twilight said, pulling the small dragon into a hug. Spike rolled his eyes and smiled. "I send letters, help her with her checklists, and make sure she remembers to eat," he said, listing them off with his claws. Faeron had to focus on his young voice and small size to keep herself from doing anything rash, and tried not to let her shaking show. 'It's a he, not a her, he's a baby, she wasn't, there aren't any crystals around, he isn't like her, please let him not be like her,' Faeron mentally repeated to herself, forcing her tense breathing to stay slow and regular. She noticed someone was waving a hoof in front of her face, and realised she'd zoned out. Pinkie looked concerned. "Are you okay? You looked like when Fluttershy tries to pretend she's not in the centre of attention," she said. Faeron wasn't sure who Fluttershy was but concern was a lot better than the looks she was used to getting, and as she glanced around she realized that Pinkie wasn't the only one looking at her like that. Author's Note Illustration is a lot messier than the last one, sorry about that, not only was I rushing but I felt like Faeron's hair would look better with messy lines. Also Pinkie looks weird. Plus I have changed styles, although anyone who's seen the new cover will already know that. I felt like here was a good place to end the chapter, and look, I've reached a word-count I haven't hit since the second chapter! Edit: I updated the illustration Chapter SixFaeron looked between the four others in the room then let out a hissing sigh, glaring at the floor so she wouldn't need to look at anyone. "No, not really..." Faeron's ears flattened further as she pushed away images of a grinning scaly snout and black fire and ash. She stepped away as she noticed Pinkie leaning over to wrap a foreleg around her, and noticed Spike looking at her. He was frowning a little, and the little green fins that probably hid his ears were drooping. Faeron quickly looked away. "Did I do something? I'm sorry," she heard Spike say. She had to bite back a rather nasty reply. He wasn't her. "It's like the opposite of when Fluttershy met you. Sudden enthusiasm verses shaking from... Fear?" "Maybe she is like Fluttershy? Remember Dragon Mountain?" A raspy voice said. The same person as earlier- Rainbow, wasn't it? Faeron looked up again in time to see Twilight perk up and nod. "Yes, I do! Faeron," Twilight turned to look Faeron in the eyes. "Are you afraid of dragons?" Faeron blanked, blinking. "I don't... I don't know. I know I was scared of a dragon, but she is dead." Faeron looked down and glared at the floor again, taking deep breaths. She was uncomfortably aware of everyone staring at her, and pushed down the urge to lash out at the nearest person. 'Those damned crystals...' "Would you like to talk about it?" Twilight asked. Faeron shook her head, then had a thought, and looked at Rainbow. "Waypoints, or at least the kind I use, are magical anchors which can be sensed by the person who made them. I use them as anchor points for long-distance teleports; it's less likely for me to teleport into a wall if I use them then." Faeron said. Rainbow reared back a little in surprise. "Huh?" "You asked earlier about waypoints, and I said I'd answer when I got my bag, so..." Faeron noticed that the waypoint she'd placed down in the library was still visible, so she deactivated that part. The glowing tree symbol vanished. Twilight perked up. "Could you show me how to make one of those? I don't teleport often, but having a semi-permanent anchor point to jump to would come in handy!" Twilight said. Faeron blinked. "Uh, sure? It took me a while to learn but it's actually pretty simple, so..." Twilight squeaked happily, the former conversation apparently forgotten, and clapped her front hooves together. "New magic!" Spike grinned a little at that, and Pinkie walked over to a random bookshelf. Rainbow sighed. "Egghead stuff, right. Can I go check something?" Rainbow asked, looking at Twilight, who nodded. "Right, I'll see you in a bit." Rainbow waved and made for the door. Faeron watched her leave before turning back to Twilight, who smiled at her. "I'd like to properly introduce myself. My name is Twilight Sparkle, it's nice to meet you," Twilight held out a hoof. Faeron shook it uncertainly, focusing a little bit of magic through her ring to prevent falling over. "Likewise, miss Sparkle." "Just call me Twilight. Now, is there anything I should know that would be useful for this?" Twilight asked. Faeron nodded, mimicking Twilight and sitting on the floor. "You need to be able to connect to the Ether without teleporting," Faeron said. As a demonstration, she shifted part of her consciousness into the Ether, and her vision quavered with her form. She quickly withdrew, as the sensation was disorienting. Twilight stared for a moment, then lifted a hoof to her mouth, looking thoughtful. "I've never done that before, how would..." She trailed off, eyes widening for a split second before she closed her eyes and lit her horn. A moment passed and there was a faint crackling sound, and Twilight opened her eyes. They looked distant and unfocused. "Did it work? Wow, that's weird, it's like i'm seeing two things at once," Twilight said, her eyes darting around. Faeron grinned. From what she'd read, it wasn't often that someone managed that on their first try. "That's perfect. Now, to make a waypoint, the simplest way is to weave a bit of magic between the ether and the material plane, then tune it so it gives off a distinguishable signal." Faeron nudged Twilight's aura with a thread of tuned magic as an example—sweet Terra her magic pool is immense—and she felt Twilight's magic latch on to hers for a moment before pulling away. "I think I get it. So if I do—" Twilight cut herself off mid-sentence and screwed up her face, her horn glowing brighter, and then there was a flash. Then, floating at the tip of Twilight's horn, was a translucent pink book. It was very detailed; there were tiny dents in the pages where the sheets would be, and there was an indent on the cover in the shape of a starburst, like her markings. Twilight opened her eyes, then looked up in surprise. "Did I do that?" Author's Note I actually have another illustration that I made ahead of time that I intended for this chapter but I didn't get far enough into the story to use it... Whoops =V If you think there's an issue with my writing, please point it out, I'd appreciate it!
Chapter OneA yawn, a blink, a realisation. It took Faeron roughly 10 seconds to realise she was lying on a stone floor. This wasn't too different from normal; except she distinctly remembered falling asleep in a tree. And she could feel... Something, wrong with her limbs. She yawned, wincing as she felt sharp teeth when her mouth closed. 'Still need to get used to that...' She thought, sighing. Sitting up, she noticed why her limbs felt different. And shoved a hoof in her mouth to stop herself screaming. A hoof. Breathing heavily, she took it back out of her mouth and examined it, wincing at the sight of the nasty cuts caused by her teeth, which were dripping purple blood. It was... Well, it was definitely a hoof anyway. The way the joints moved as she slowly stood up were more supple than any horses she'd seen, though, and her... Forelegs moved like an arm with an extra joint. She took a few shaky steps experimentally, and, confident she wouldn't just fall over, she started looking around. The room she was in was quite large, with tapestries on some of the walls. It was also rather dilapidated, with the tapestries ripped and faded, and many of the walls cracked with the ceiling mostly obliterated. It reminded her of- 'No. Don't think of that', she told herself. 'It's over, it's in the past.' She spotted something blue in the corner of her eye. Turning towards it, she blinked and shuffled over to her bright blue alchemy bag, which was lying on a small pile of broken bricks. She frowned and nudged her hoof inside it. It hit something cold, hard, and glossy-feeling, which was either her sword or one of the handy gems she'd been saving. She sighed in relief; at least it wasn't empty. She took a few minutes to get it around her neck, and when it was safely there, she tested the flexibility of her foreleg by sticking it out and feeling for all the joints. A thought occurred to her: If she had no fingers, where were her rings? She glanced around, not seeing the black and blue rings that had come in handy several times. As an afterthought, she sent a small pulse of magic through her body to see if whatever had altered her had moved the rings. Two results, somewhere around her... Ear? Shakily, she lifted one of her forelegs up to her head, and felt the two metallic rings attached to her pointed shaped ear. 'Okay, earrings. That's... Fine. It's fine.' She exhaled carefully and placed her hoof back on the ground, wobbling slightly. Now she just needed to make sure they still worked. She glanced around and, deciding it wouldn't be a good idea to find out what mode it was on by throwing a fireball into a dilapidated castle, she lifted one of her forelegs up and pressed it down in the air. It hit an invisible surface. Smiling, she repeated the process with her other three legs, absently noting that her hind legs moved like ankles, until she was standing in the air a foot above the ground. Happy that her first arcane focus still worked, she glanced over to a spot in the room and flicked her ear, and the world distorted for half a second before refocusing to show she was now on the ground, facing a tapestry. 'That's good, they both work.' Faeron didn't particularly need a void ring, since she could teleport without one, but it was handy for if her internal energy was depleted too much to teleport on her own, and all she needed to use it when she was tired was a half-charged Klein Star. She looked around again and blinked. Wasn't it lighter a second ago? "I can't picture anything. It's too dark." Twilight Sparkle said, squinting in the direction of the topsy-turvy Ponyville. Discord promptly dropped her. "Well, give it a few minutes and you'll see it in the beautiful light of day. Or not." He shrugged and flashed away. Twilight shook her head and frowned. "Ponyville, the chaos capital of the world?" She stamped her hoof. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" She said determinedly. "Don't worry, you won't." Fluttershy laughed, skating past. Twilight groaned. This was going to be frustrating. Faeron glanced up. The moon was in the sky. It was a crescent, and it was surrounded by stars. Quite a lovely sight. Only... "Since when was the night sky tinted blue?" She muttered. Normally the night sky was darker black, more like her skin. Maybe it was getting to be early morning? Everything tended to have a bluish tinge before sunrise. Faeron shook her head. 'The time of day doesn't matter.' She thought. 'I need to find out where I am.' She glanced at her hooves, and back at the sky. It was probably stupid, she had never been quadruped before, but she jumped. And kept going, as her ring kicked in. Flying was simple, and it didn't take too much energy, so it was a good way to travel... Especially when there was a good chance she'd trip and sprain something. She focused on the feeling of floating, and guided herself to a stop a little higher than the roof of the castle ruins. Which seemed to be in a forest. She glanced around and saw what looked like a building past the forest's edge, and started towards it... When the sun rose. Faeron skidded to a halt in midair, and looked at the sky, careful not to look at the sun. Sure enough, broad daylight. She shook her head in disbelief. 'That's not possible...' She thought, trailing off in her mind. Possible or not, it just happened... She sighed and kept on going towards the treeline. She needed answers, and civilisation was the best place to find them. 'Let's just hope nobody freaks out about a talking ender horse...' Author's Note Welp. It's time. Any context-related questions can be answered here, the ask blog for the OC being used in this story.
Chapter TwoFaeron sighed and landed near the treeline. The sun had set and risen twice, which still confused her. Although, it wasn't quite as confusing as the checkerboard pattern the ground past the forest seemed to have. Or the fact that the ground seemed to be emanating entropy. She breathed in and absorbed a little of the surrounding flux, restoring the energy she lost while flying, and making the air a little less heavy with rogue magic. She sighed lightly. Excessive amounts of magic in the air always made her uncomfortable. "Well, what do we have here?" A voice purred from behind her. Faeron whipped around, but saw nothing. Frowning, she turned to start walking out of the forest, and came face-to-face with... Something. Whatever it was seemed to be a mishmash of several different creatures, although words for it as a whole were lacking. Faeron felt uneasy, it had a very heavy magical aura. "It's not every day you see something like this, and you're not one of mine..." It said, rubbing its chin with a golden talon. Faeron backed up a few steps, glaring at it. "...What, or who, are you?" She asked, trying to ignore the pressing aura of warp coming from the being. It pouted. "You don't know me? I'm Discord, spirit of chaos and disharmony!" The newly introduced Discord said with a flourish (his name even spelling out in flowery letters above his head), and his pout shifted into a grin. "And you, well, you are curious." He finished. Faeron blinked as he flashed away. "Interesting how? The teeth, or something else?" She muttered. Discord's voice sounded from above her. "Oh, the teeth are indeed interesting, but you just reek of chaos. Why would that be?" Faeron glanced up and saw him floating in the air above her head, looking down at her. "It... May be from the entropy I absorbed, this place has an abundance of it." She said quietly. She didn't know whether it was a good idea to tell him that or not. "Mm, perhaps, but I don't believe I've heard of a pony able to absorb entropy before." Discord's eyebrows turned into white roses. "What has Celestia been up to since my imprisonment?" Faeron blinked. "...Who's Celestia?" Faeron asked, ignoring the rest of the sentence. "Oh, nobody important, now, you were saying?" Discord snapped his paw and summoned what looked like green tea. Faeron stepped back a little. "I... can absorb excess magic, usually the discarded kind left over from spellcasting... Or the stuff spilling out from an aura node if it overloads." She said, starting to turn away. This guy was giving her the creeps. "Oh come now, don't you want to have a little fun?" Discord grinned, floating in front of her. "Lets see how you tick." He said. Faeron backed away a step and let out a low growl. She hoped he didn't mean what she thought he did. Faster than she expected, Discord floated down and prodded her in the back of the head. She suddenly felt a powerful ache in her skull, like her mind was being pressed. Her vision started swimming, and for a second before her vision went dark, she could swear she heard a hum. "Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing!" Discord said, lifting a glass of chocolate milk to his lips. "Not as wonderful as friendship!" Twilight Sparkle and her friends announced their presence. Then did a double take. Next to Discord's throne was a pitch black pony with jagged teeth, and unfocused slit eyes, which were letting off a malevolent indigo light. The pony's mane was a ruffled violet that seemed to shine a little. "What in Equestria did you do to that pony?!" Twilight glared at Discord. She hadn't seen any ponies with changes like this yet. He frowned, then smiled. "Absolutely nothing. Well, I may have messed with her mind a little bit, but other than that she was like this when I found her." He said smugly, drinking his glass and throwing the chocolate milk away. "Are you really trying this again?" "That's right! You couldn't break apart our friendship for long" Applejack stamped her hoof as she finished. Discord rolled his eyes. "Oh Applejack don't lie to me, I'm the one who made you a liar." He started pulling the elements of harmony towards him, bringing the bearers with them. "Will you ever learn?" Twilight Sparkle frowned and teleported among her friends, putting up a magic bubble and guiding it and her friends to the ground, where it promptly popped. "I'll tell you what we learned, Discord. We've learned that friendship isn't always easy. But there's no doubt it's worth fighting for!" She stamped her hoof. Whatever Discord did to the pony next to his throne, it would hopefully be undone when they used the elements. "Eurgh, gag!" Discord made a face. "Fine, go ahead, try and use your little elements! Friend me. Just make it quick." He teleported from his spot in front of the bearers into his throne. "I'm missing some excellent chaos here." He grinned. Beside his throne, the pony was staring at the bearers, making an unsettling noise. "Alright ladies, lets show him what friendship can do!" Twilight nodded at her friends as they powered up the elements, but a shout startled them. "Wait wait wait!" Pinkie Pie opened her mouth under a cotton candy cloud for a few seconds, before bouncing over to her friends and growling. Discord yawned. The six ponies started glowing, and the gemstones on the necklaces started letting off beams of light. Discord opened his eyes as the beams whizzed past him. "What's this?" More beams of light shot from the necklaces. "No." Twilight's eyes started glowing, followed by the rest of her friends, and a bright light formed around them that turned into a bright rainbow, which headed towards Discord. "Noooooo!" Discord screamed, raising his arms as if to shield himself as the Elements of Harmony impacted him, turning him to stone. The Elements created a dome of light which covered all of Ponyville, expanding to rid Equestria of the chaos Discord brought. The pony next to Discord's throne collapsed, and was laying on the floor when the light of the elements disappeared. As the elements deactivated, the bearers dropped to the floor, and watched as the stone statue of Discord fell to the floor. But most directed their attention to the black shape where Discord's throne used to be. Fluttershy fluttered over to the black shape on the ground, followed by her friends. The rise and fall of the pony's sides meant they were alive, which was good. Fluttershy, however, froze up when she got close enough to see the pony's face. "Twilight...?" She said worriedly. "Yes Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, not close enough to see what Fluttershy was talking about. "Her teeth didn't change..." Everypony froze. Author's Note This went a bit fast, in my opinion. Constructive criticism welcomed; if you know a way to make this chapter better, I will happily hear your explanation. I might not be able to post a new chapter next Friday, because I'm going camping and there is no internet or electricity there, so my computer will only have battery power for me to work on it. And my handwriting is really slow.
Chapter Three'Ow, ow, ow, ow...' The first thing Faeron noticed was a pounding headache. Her limbs were tingling with pins and needles, and she felt a little bit sick. She groaned, putting a hoof to her head, and shivering a little as she remembered what had happened. That guy, Discord, must have done something to her head. Although why she could vaguely remember evil laughter and rainbows was beyond her. She could hear talking, but the headache made it hard to concentrate on words. Something about teeth? 'Not important.' Rubbing her head, she blearily opened one eye, and squinted it almost shut when the light stung. 'I guess it's daytime...' she thought as her eyes re-adjusted, revealing clear blue skies. "Excuse me?" Faeron froze for a second, then twisted her head in the direction of the voice. Then blinked. Standing there were six colourful, vaguely horse-ish creatures, two of which were glaring suspiciously at her. The other four looked mostly apprehensive. 'Uh oh.' One of the two in the front nudged the other, who quietly spoke. "Um, are you okay?" Faeron blinked, then attempted to nod, but her position made that difficult. "I'm fine, I guess. I just need to..." she trailed off as she focused, and the world twisted in on itself for a second. It twisted back out, and she was upright, in the air. She landed with a faint 'thud'. She looked towards the group, and found herself staring into a pair of blue eyes. When the mystery mare disappeared in a shower of ethereal sparks, Twilight's jaw dropped. She felt a slightly different than normal— but familiar—magical wavelength as it happened, but it was impossible! Earth ponies couldn't- A fresh burst of sparkles signalled the mare reappearing, except she was upright this time, rather than flopped on her back. Twilight squinted, looking for a horn, but saw none. This only caused her to gawk further. "Hi! My name's Pinkie Pie, what's yours?" Twilight blinked as she realized Pinkie was suddenly in front of the mare, who looked as lost for words as you can look with teeth taking up most of your visible jaw. "I, uh-" "Take your time!" Pinkie smiled as the mare violently shook her head, shivering for a moment. "My name is Faeron?" Pinkie cocked her head at the answer. "Really? You don't seem so sure about that." The mare blinked and said slowly, "You'd think I'd know my own name." Pinkie grinned. "Well?" The mare huffed softly. "Like I said, Faeron." She paused and added hesitantly, "nice to meet you." Twilight blinked, shook her head, and stepped forward, picking one of the thoughts running through her head. "Excuse me, but how are you feeling? You were in close proximity to Discord when we used the Elements of Harmony on him. There shouldn't be any adverse affects, and you've already said you're feeling okay, but it hasn't happened before and we don't know what the effects are," she asked. Faeron looked at Twilight for a moment, before blinking and glancing at the floor. "Well... I'm physically fine, but my magic stores can't seem to be able to tell whether they're mostly in flux or if they're pure vis. It's giving me a headache, actually," she answered. Twilight blinked. What? Author's Note This. Took TOO FUCKING LONG. And it's shorter than the thing I wrote in one weekend! Five hundred ninety compared to six hundred twenty something! (granted, that one is in a journal format, and it's based off a more fleshed out idea than 'this character of mine appears in Equestria for some reason lmao') So here, have a short chapter because my brain broke and I don't know what I'm doing with this story (I want Twilight to study Faeron's magic but that's about it)
Chapter FourLooking at her magic stores with her mind's eye, Faeron was very confused. On one hand, her stores seemed to be soaked in flux, and she'd probably get a nosebleed trying to fix it. On the other hand, the flux kept on purifying itself for a few seconds at a time, before tainting itself again. She was getting concerned about the potential Warp effects she'd get from this. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" The purple horse creature spoke again. Faeron glanced up at her and shrugged, grimacing. "My magic keeps switching between 'in flux' and 'pure aura', I have no idea why, and I'm getting a headache trying to think of the implications." The purple one blinked a few times. "Okay, I assume 'flux' is as in 'instability,' which wouldn't necessarily be good, but what was the 'vis' thing you mentioned?" She asked in a curious tone. Ah. So they, or the purple one anyway, didn't do thaumcrafts. Faeron paused for a moment to think, then replied, "Vis is essentially pure aura. What happens when an aspect is separated from its object and purified." She suddenly noticed that the necklaces each being was wearing, or a large tiara in the case of the purple one, each contained an vibrantly shining aura node. "And it occurs naturally in aura nodes, like the ones you're wearing. Uh, you might not be able to see them though." She raised a hoof and pointed at Pinkie Pie's necklace, her being the closest. Pinkie promptly looked down. The purple one's horn lit up, levitating the crown off her head and onto a raised hoof, frowning slightly after a moment of study. "No, not really, unless 'aura nodes' look like gemstones...?" she asked. Faeron shook her head. "Nodes look like little sources of light, just a small glow, at least to normal eyes. Mine aren't exactly... normal, though." She focused a little on dilating and narrowing her pupils, irises sparking as she did so. Pinkie Pie leaned over a little to see, and the purple one put the crown back on her head to walk forward a few steps. "They're slit, like a cat's. Are you nocturnal?" she asked. Faeron took a moment to think on that. "Possibly? I sleep when I need, but the End doesn't really have a 'day'. It has no sun." Everyone in front of her froze. Some of them actually started gaping. The purple one twitched a little. "Okay, define... End. Is it a time or a place?" Faeron only needed to register the question before she knew how to reply. "A place. It's the name for my home, a dimension of void with some islands floating in it." She paused before adding, "it's not the most hospitable place besides the few inhabited areas." The purple one blinked and looked like she was about to ask another question, when one of the others in her group nudged her. "Twi, shouldn't we be sending a letter to the Princess now that Discord's a statue again?" Twilight blinked. Right, she'd forgotten that. She should probably go and get Spike and- Spike! "Rainbow Dash, could you fly to the library and make sure Spike gets some stomach ache medicine? Princess Celestia sent all of my friendship reports through his fire, and when I left he wasn't feeling well..." Twilight's ears flattened. "I should probably have helped him but I was too focused on helping all of you." Rainbow saluted and flew towards the Golden Oaks. Faeron watched the rainbow contrail fade with clear curiosity, and Twilight looked at the rest of her group of friends, sans Pinkie, who was still standing next to Faeron. "If any of you have anything you'd like to do, we can meet back at the library in an hour." Twilight said. Applejack thanked her and started heading towards Sweet Apple Acres, and Rarity started on her way to Carousel Boutique. Fluttershy hesitated before making off in the direction of her cottage. Pinkie Pie, surprisingly, stayed where she was. Although, maybe she didn't, there was a dust trail... Twilight raised an eyebrow at her, to which the pink mare shrugged. "The Cakes were still in Sugarcube Corner when we left last time, and I can't check on everypony in Ponyville, so... I'm good!" Pinkie started hopping in place. "Library?" "Library," Twilight nodded. She turned a little to look at Faeron. "Could you come too? I'd like to ask you a few questions," Twilight said. Pinkie nodded vigorously. "Me too! Like, what's your favourite food?" Pinkie asked, bouncing in the direction of the library as Twilight started walking. Faeron hesitated for a split second before following. "I'm not too sure what my favourite food is. Apples I suppose. This place is called Ponyville?" Author's Note I found a good spot to cut the chapter off, luckily. Tell me what you think of the illustration! I might replace it with a different one but that seemed good enough, although it looks a little distracting. Critiques are welcomed, by the way!
Chapter Five"So then I said, oatmeal, are you crazy?" Pinkie Pie finished her story. Twilight giggled, although Faeron just stared. Her eyebrows were slightly creased. "I don't get it." She admitted. Pinkie opened her mouth to explain but before she could say anything she walked into the front door of the library. "Ow. We're here!" She announced before rubbing her head. Faeron looked at the library for a moment. "I've never seen a library inside a tree before. Houses, but not a library. Or at least not a genuine one rather than a book collection." She said. Twilight looked at her in surprise before opening the front door, stepping inside. "Spike! Rainbow Dash!" She called. There was a thud coming from upstairs, and as Twilight walked further into the public area of the library Rainbow Dash appeared at the top of the staircase. "Hi Twilight! I think Spike is feeling a little better; Princess Celestia ran out of letters," Rainbow grimaced. A pile of blankets shuffled to sit behind her, and a claw poked through one of the layers around the front and pulled it down, revealing Spike's face. "Hey Twilight," Spike said. His voice was hoarse. Twilight's ears drooped. "Hi Spike. Did you take any medicine?" she asked. Spike nodded, and Twilight relaxed. She hadn't noticed how tense she'd been. "We need to send a letter but I don't think it would be very fair to ask you to send it after all that..." she trailed off. Should she just wait until Spike was better? "Maybe Rainbow Dash could fly to Canterlot and deliver the letter that way! Ooh, or maybe the princess will come here on her own? The elements do make a pretty big light show!" Pinkie Pie waved her forelegs in the air for emphasis. She had a point, Twilight thought. "Twilight, if I can send a letter when I have a cold I can send one now!" Spike argued. Twilight shook her head firmly. "It wouldn't be fair to ask you to send it right now. But—" Twilight raised a hoof as Spike opened his mouth to interject. "—if you're really that adamant about it we'll wait until everypony else gets here, and then we can think about it." Spike sighed, relenting, then raised an eyebrow, looking behind Twilight. "What's with her?" Twilight turned around and saw Faeron staring into space with a frown. "Are you o-" as Twilight started, the space in front of Faeron flashed bright purple. "What was that?" Twilight asked, blinking spots out of her eyes. Faeron looked at her sheepishly, a small, floating, glowing symbol of a tree where the flash came from. "I didn't mean for that to flash so brightly. My bag is missing, so I made a waypoint for me to come back to after I've found it." Faeron gestured at the glowing tree. "A waypoint?" Rainbow Dash echoed. "I can explain after I've got my bag," Faeron said, before vanishing in a burst of sparks, just like she had earlier. Twilight stared at the sparks and the symbol in the air for a moment before sighing and turning back towards Spike and Rainbow Dash. Spike had a vaguely startled look. "Did you bring a teleporting earth pony into the library or was I just seeing things?" Spike asked. Twilight sighed again, bordering on a groan. "I think I did, and she left before I could ask any questions." In the middle of teleporting, Faeron made sure to spend an extra few seconds in the ether. She could feel a faint string of her magic which she recognised as the binding she put on her alchemy bag, and used the string to make sure she came out of the ether in the right place. As she left, she noted that it didn't feel like the ether for any of the realms she recognised. The world untwisted, and she was standing at the edge of the forest she was in before. Her bag was lying on the ground, a bit of dirt kicked up around it. She frowned, and rather than take a few minutes to get the string over her neck manually and probably get her face dirty, she used a bit of magic to pick it up like hands. She noticed it took a little less energy to do so than it normally would, but there was a surprisingly high saturation of ambient magic there still, so it was probably helping. After her bag was once again safely attached to her, she focused on the waypoint she'd set, and let the world twist for her once more. *pff* "-stop, pl-haha-please! I g-haha-give up!" Faeron stared for a moment when she regained her her vision of the tree library. Just off from the staircase, "Twilight" was sitting down with a flailing and laughing purple and green mess. Her horn was glowing magenta, and the same glow surrounded several feathers, which were attacking whoever was in front of her. "L-ha-Look, the-haha- other pony is back! Go talk to ha-her and sto-h-p tickling meeeeee!" he managed to squeak out. Twilight turned to look, lowering the feathers, and smiled. "Hello again. You got your bag, I see," Twilight said. Faeron nodded slowly. "I'm afraid to ask what happened in the few minutes I was gone that led to that..." she said, looking at the green and purple scaly- Faeron tensed and recoiled. "Is that a..." she trailed off, looking back at Twilight. "Oh, Spike? He's a baby dragon, and my number one assistant!" Twilight said, pulling the small dragon into a hug. Spike rolled his eyes and smiled. "I send letters, help her with her checklists, and make sure she remembers to eat," he said, listing them off with his claws. Faeron had to focus on his young voice and small size to keep herself from doing anything rash, and tried not to let her shaking show. 'It's a he, not a her, he's a baby, she wasn't, there aren't any crystals around, he isn't like her, please let him not be like her,' Faeron mentally repeated to herself, forcing her tense breathing to stay slow and regular. She noticed someone was waving a hoof in front of her face, and realised she'd zoned out. Pinkie looked concerned. "Are you okay? You looked like when Fluttershy tries to pretend she's not in the centre of attention," she said. Faeron wasn't sure who Fluttershy was but concern was a lot better than the looks she was used to getting, and as she glanced around she realized that Pinkie wasn't the only one looking at her like that. Author's Note Illustration is a lot messier than the last one, sorry about that, not only was I rushing but I felt like Faeron's hair would look better with messy lines. Also Pinkie looks weird. Plus I have changed styles, although anyone who's seen the new cover will already know that. I felt like here was a good place to end the chapter, and look, I've reached a word-count I haven't hit since the second chapter! Edit: I updated the illustration
Chapter SixFaeron looked between the four others in the room then let out a hissing sigh, glaring at the floor so she wouldn't need to look at anyone. "No, not really..." Faeron's ears flattened further as she pushed away images of a grinning scaly snout and black fire and ash. She stepped away as she noticed Pinkie leaning over to wrap a foreleg around her, and noticed Spike looking at her. He was frowning a little, and the little green fins that probably hid his ears were drooping. Faeron quickly looked away. "Did I do something? I'm sorry," she heard Spike say. She had to bite back a rather nasty reply. He wasn't her. "It's like the opposite of when Fluttershy met you. Sudden enthusiasm verses shaking from... Fear?" "Maybe she is like Fluttershy? Remember Dragon Mountain?" A raspy voice said. The same person as earlier- Rainbow, wasn't it? Faeron looked up again in time to see Twilight perk up and nod. "Yes, I do! Faeron," Twilight turned to look Faeron in the eyes. "Are you afraid of dragons?" Faeron blanked, blinking. "I don't... I don't know. I know I was scared of a dragon, but she is dead." Faeron looked down and glared at the floor again, taking deep breaths. She was uncomfortably aware of everyone staring at her, and pushed down the urge to lash out at the nearest person. 'Those damned crystals...' "Would you like to talk about it?" Twilight asked. Faeron shook her head, then had a thought, and looked at Rainbow. "Waypoints, or at least the kind I use, are magical anchors which can be sensed by the person who made them. I use them as anchor points for long-distance teleports; it's less likely for me to teleport into a wall if I use them then." Faeron said. Rainbow reared back a little in surprise. "Huh?" "You asked earlier about waypoints, and I said I'd answer when I got my bag, so..." Faeron noticed that the waypoint she'd placed down in the library was still visible, so she deactivated that part. The glowing tree symbol vanished. Twilight perked up. "Could you show me how to make one of those? I don't teleport often, but having a semi-permanent anchor point to jump to would come in handy!" Twilight said. Faeron blinked. "Uh, sure? It took me a while to learn but it's actually pretty simple, so..." Twilight squeaked happily, the former conversation apparently forgotten, and clapped her front hooves together. "New magic!" Spike grinned a little at that, and Pinkie walked over to a random bookshelf. Rainbow sighed. "Egghead stuff, right. Can I go check something?" Rainbow asked, looking at Twilight, who nodded. "Right, I'll see you in a bit." Rainbow waved and made for the door. Faeron watched her leave before turning back to Twilight, who smiled at her. "I'd like to properly introduce myself. My name is Twilight Sparkle, it's nice to meet you," Twilight held out a hoof. Faeron shook it uncertainly, focusing a little bit of magic through her ring to prevent falling over. "Likewise, miss Sparkle." "Just call me Twilight. Now, is there anything I should know that would be useful for this?" Twilight asked. Faeron nodded, mimicking Twilight and sitting on the floor. "You need to be able to connect to the Ether without teleporting," Faeron said. As a demonstration, she shifted part of her consciousness into the Ether, and her vision quavered with her form. She quickly withdrew, as the sensation was disorienting. Twilight stared for a moment, then lifted a hoof to her mouth, looking thoughtful. "I've never done that before, how would..." She trailed off, eyes widening for a split second before she closed her eyes and lit her horn. A moment passed and there was a faint crackling sound, and Twilight opened her eyes. They looked distant and unfocused. "Did it work? Wow, that's weird, it's like i'm seeing two things at once," Twilight said, her eyes darting around. Faeron grinned. From what she'd read, it wasn't often that someone managed that on their first try. "That's perfect. Now, to make a waypoint, the simplest way is to weave a bit of magic between the ether and the material plane, then tune it so it gives off a distinguishable signal." Faeron nudged Twilight's aura with a thread of tuned magic as an example—sweet Terra her magic pool is immense—and she felt Twilight's magic latch on to hers for a moment before pulling away. "I think I get it. So if I do—" Twilight cut herself off mid-sentence and screwed up her face, her horn glowing brighter, and then there was a flash. Then, floating at the tip of Twilight's horn, was a translucent pink book. It was very detailed; there were tiny dents in the pages where the sheets would be, and there was an indent on the cover in the shape of a starburst, like her markings. Twilight opened her eyes, then looked up in surprise. "Did I do that?" Author's Note I actually have another illustration that I made ahead of time that I intended for this chapter but I didn't get far enough into the story to use it... Whoops =V If you think there's an issue with my writing, please point it out, I'd appreciate it!
