The house in the white-space
She had him shaking in his soft little feet; her and the five of them. Even her baby dragon had the little human cowering in the corner. Twilight Sparkle stared him down deviously smirking, her wings flared.
"I warned you not to mess with us little boy, now The elements of harmony in my friends and I will make you sorry you ever revealed yourself."
"Oh no please don't hurt me; help, help, won't somebody save me?" He pleaded almost fruitlessly. The Seven of them where closing in; grinning wickedly at him, the wings flaring open, hooves clanging on the floor, what would they do to him?
"Back off from our friend; you jerks." called a voice almost like a savant from the heavens. The Equestrians turned their heads and all the bravado just left them, their hooves started shaking....as the hand at the other ends of the strings made them shake.
"HA! If only it really was this easy!" Danny Keith exclaimed in delight as he dropped the controls for the pony puppets in his hand and picked up the toys he made "leer" over the "cliffs" he made at the top of his bed with the other. He sat in the low gray light of the bedroom he practically hadn't left or cleaned in a thousand years give or take a century. With it's deep purple painted walls with neon green baseboards, and splatters of orange that the painters were told to just "throw at the walls," by his father once the first coat dried. His mom didn't like it; but what ever made her little boy happy. The floor was hardwood; as his parents had long pulled up the carpet matted with; play dough, orange Fanta stains, and other such debris and junk.
There where bookshelves stacked with a mishmash of literature ranging from the works of Shakespeare, to the whole entire run of the 90's goosebumps series and the "Diary of wimpy kid" series. A long silent television sat on the desk at one end of the room, by which I mean it was silent because he hadn't turned it on it a week. Of course there was no television in Equestria; and the human programmings had long since ceased to broadcast . That didn't meant that the video game consoles which in turn function as DVD/BLU-Ray player couldn't work. There was no way to explain it but somehow; the house had seemed to have been endowed with a bottomless cup of electricity since the world ended. Quite the reverse to what usually happens in these situations...how odd thought.
The New Beginnings Library (Formerly Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle) Ponyville
While the Boy was enjoying his playtime thousands of miles away; the real Twilight Sparkle, was busy using her magic to flip through the racks of her library. The New Beginnings she had happily renamed it to; and allowed everyone to freely traverse it. (provided they avoid the corners she set aside for her living space)
"Spike Check again are you sure you can't find the book on Puppet Strings contribution and creation of static animation magic?" She said looking from her ladder at her dragon assistant and life long companion. who was checking the spines of every book he held in his claws.
"Who?" was all he could reply as he checked the titles to see if the book had gotten lost in circulation.
"Oh come on Spike, I understand not knowing who Starswirl The Bearded was, but surely you have some idea who Puppet Strings was?"
"Sorry Twi, Doesn't ring a bell." he said with a roll of his eyes and he set the books down on the table. Twilight rolled her eyes right back at him, she loved her little Spike to death; but many times such as then when he exhibited ignorance of even simple Equestrian History did she keep getting peeved with him.
Danny's Room
He lifted the small multi colored Monster in my pocket figures in the air and made it dive bomb right on the Rarity puppet's back, the wooden joint that held her up and made her back sway and move was twisted. It made her wooden legs and hooves flail about as the tiny blueish purple mummy and his friends pressed down onto her back.
"Oh no Help! Help! the mummy is crushing my beautiful back and the wizard is making my lovely white coat all mussed." Danny said in a singsong imitation of Rarity as the mummy toy pressed her against the floor.
"I'll save you Rarity!" The Rainbow dash puppet called in a equally singsong mocking tone from the puppeteer controlling her. "We've got the power of friendship on our side!"
"Oh does that power stop a 50. caliber slug of lead from making brain salad out of your skull?" He said switching to a gruff and growling voice, and picked an action figure from the box. It was a toy of the vengeance seeking vigilante, the one the only The Punisher.
He lifted the arm holding the machine gun up; and pressed it up to the dash puppet's head. He chuckled and clucked in his throat in glee as he clicked his tongue against his teeth to make a mini-gun sound. He shook and jiggled the control to the Rainbow Dash puppet as he did so; imitating the convulsions and jerks he'd seen bodies make when they get shot up with bullets like that on TV.
Library
Spike took a seat on the table as his "owner" took to the the cart of books; Twilight sure gets testy when a book goes missing he thought to himself.
"Puppet strings was the father of static animation magic Spike; He Made a living as a traveling puppeteer entertaining fillies and colts, all over Equestria with shows where he made the puppets float and fly and move all without strings. He even could do at least fifty different voices when he first started his act." Twilight said with a prideful tone given that Puppet was a unicorn; a breed she still had a deep sense of pride for.
"So where does static animation come into play then?" the dragon asked now with a bit of interest, "and what is it exactly?"
"Well, Puppet would concentrate really hard on what everything from the character in his shows would be like; down to the smallest detail." She replied resting her head on her hooves giving in to the book being lost. "From what the voice would sound like; to what sort of personality they had, even if they where good or evil. Static animation is essentially the process of turning your characters and ideas or long established ones into cores that are cast as spells on a representation of the character"
"Like a puppet!" Spike interrupted with a snap of his claw.
"Yes; but other things have been used over the years; drawings, storybooks, photos, dolls, as long as it fits the cores you conjure up it'll bring them to life." Twilight finished before getting up to return to her desk and duties as the New Beginnings librarian.
Playtime
"Now for the big cheese of these crayon box colored freaks!" He made a Wolverine toy in his left hand say as his right made him hold up the Pinkie Pie puppet to his plastic claws. He tossed Pinkie away onto the pile of other puppets with a wave of his hands. in his warped but childishly so little boy head; the pile of pony puppets where all cartoonishly beaten up, with X's for eyes and stars swirling around the bodies. Not hideously shot up; maimed, beaten with a giant wacky hammer, and other such weapons cartoons and fictional characters that seemed to appeal to little boys so much in spite of how "progressive" the last century of humanity claimed to be.
"Very good fellas;" he said to his toys, "by the way GIRLS, black and blue really are your colors." He said to the pile of disjointed pony puppets. With that he turned them and lined them all up in a row; Punisher, Wolverine, A Link amiibo with a chipped hilt of his sword, a plastic Mario from Jakks Pacific, a Goku, Krillin, and for some reason Master Roshi action figure, and his personal favorite a coin bank bust of Batman. Which he..."salvaged from the ruins of an old comic book store...What? It's not like you can steal when there's no one left to sell it, or punish you for taking it right?"
Library
"You don't think that kid you told me about from last night has anything to do with the books disappearance do you Twilight?" Spike Said as he started browsing a new book on dragons that had finally been published after the pony/dragon relations where finally starting to be patched together in part to Twilight's diplomatic meeting with them.
"Oh Spike, I wouldn't put that sorta thing above him, but what could he do with it? it's not like humans can do magic...could they?" she inferred resting her head on a hoof to ponder if he could. "Oh well even if he had taken it, what's the worst a kid could do with a bunch of living toys and puppets? I mean his kind where probably so imagination deprived before they...ended, he probably doesn't even know what to do with them." she said giggling at her silly little thought.
Danny's room
He lifted the polished piece of wood; really a timber wolf's bone stolen from a dead one, he had hallowed it out with a pin thin drill bit, and then he had threaded a lock of Twilight's purple hair through the stick making a core, the holes sealed with some wood ash and wax and painted black to finish it.
"He had read this in an "expanded universe" tie in product to the Harry Potter books, released back when that kinda merchandise was jacked to hell." He doubted at first whether this kinda thing; given how it came from the mind of a british author would work in the "real" world, but it couldn't hurt to try. Surprisingly the improvised "wand" while not as powerful as those in any work of fiction he ever read, could do some magic, and with practice and training; Ergo thinking like a pony and not a human, it got stronger and stronger.
He waved it over the lined up toys, and they instantly got caught in a green glow. They then began to twitch; stretch, and walk around as if being flexed and controlled by invisible hands. It was this spell; coupled with a growth spell, that allowed them to be with their "owner" at the gala last night. A devious little smile spread across Danny's lips.
"Attack!" He cried out and pointed his wand out like a general ordering his troops to charge with his sword. The toys all started a running attack at a big talking Princess Celestia toy.
In addition to the puppets of the Main six; she was the only toy not salvaged from the human world. As his statically animated toys charged Danny lay on his bed; chin resting on his hands.
Library
"Take a letter Spike." Twilight said looking up from her catalogue as the dragon got his pen and parchment ready as he was known to do. "Dear Canterlot archives; request for replacement copy of "A conjurer's guide to static animation: The life and work of Puppet Strings." Please dock necessary costs from my salary in addition to the docking penalty for the loss of the book."
"Twilight; you don't have to pay for it, you just gotta take the docking for the loss."
"I know Spike, but it just feels like I should do it, the book went missing on my watch and all." She replied to him solemnly rubbing his head as he finished the letter.
"Aww Twilight, you're such a responsible pony; always thinking of the best things to do for people, and best way to fix your mistakes, and you always do what's right." Her dragon friend told her hugging her lovingly.
Danny's room
"Hit her hard boys! Make her whinny for mercy!" Danny shouted while jumping up and down on his bed in his old Krav Maga Uniform from Master Aaroha's School of Krav Maga. Green belt level; good skilled fighter, but far from a master of the art. He broke into a chorus of the theme "Find the Dragon Balls!" from the original Dragon Ball show, in near perfect Japanese. Despite him not being able to speak a lick of language, hell, if not for knowing the english version, he probably wouldn't have a clue to what he was saying.
All while his little playthings where (metaphorically speaking) slashing; Punching, kicking, shooting and straight up beating the ever loving hell out of Princess Celestia! her magic voice box began to crack but still gave a few unaware chimes of.
"You're my best friend." As Wolverine's plastic claws poked her in the painted on eye, and "I will light the way." As Mario gave her a good kick in the Cutie Mark. She gave a croaking; "Lets fly to the Castle." As Link snapped her horn with his sword and Goku equated Mario's kick to Cutie mark with a Faux "Kamehameha." his hands made the right moments, but there was no blue energy blast from his plastic hands.
"Oh you want to fly to your castle?" Danny asked the pretty much broken toy as he set a Canterlot Castle Playset on his night table and stacked some Captain underpants and Mcgraw Hill Textbooks for the toys to get up to it. "Well you heard her boys, take this lovely lady home." He said snickering as they hoisted her onto their arms and carried her up the stacks, over the desk, up the playset stairs as high as they could and held her over the edge ready to...
"Toss her overboard!" The over hyper little boy said happily, his toys were all too eager to comply. They Swung their arms and the Princess Celestia toy went over the side of her own castle and hit the hard floor, With a hard crack; her wings snapped off.
"Oh my God." He said suddenly snapped out of his rush. "What have I done?!" He said covering his face in shame.
Library
"There you go little one's, I think you'll all enjoy these books Daring Do is very popular with my friend Rainbow Dash. Twilight said happily running a hoof over a little colt's head, the colt smiled and giggled before trotting off to happily join his friends outside to read. Twilight was feeling less and less guilt over the lost book, She even got out her old element of magic tiara and felt like a filly again as she put it on.
Danny's room
"There you go princess, I think you'll feel all better when I get your wings back on." Danny said sadly running a hand thru her scratchy wool like mane. The toy gave a weak chime and the wing joints flapped weakly before going silent. Danny was feeling more and more guilt over being so violent with the princess and her subjects, he even got out his wand and desperately To piece her back together and get the scuffs off the mane six. He tried The Reparo Spell from Harry Potter, but that was just make believe; it didn't exist so there was no way it'd be that easy to fix her. "I'm a monster." He said heavy; real, shameful tears in his eyes.
Library
"You know Spike?" Twilight said Happily looking at her dragon reading the latest issue of power ponies, as the light shined through the windows of her library. "I think in spite of what happened; this is gonna be a good day." She packed up a few of her favorite books in her side back and put an "Out to lunch" Sigh on her desk. She trotted out the door to the grassy shade under the golden oaks tree outside to read in peace.
"Hey wait up!" Spike called after her picking up his comic to join her.
Danny's room
"You know fellas?" Danny said in a faked Happiness looking at his now limp and lifeless toys sitting on an old issue of Uncanny X-force number 25, as the grey took hold and made the room look bleaker and bleaker. "I think in spite of what happened; they'll be ok" he placed the pony toys up on his desk, aside a few dings that wouldn't come out; looked mostly ok. "Good as new right?....Right?" He said with a nervous chuckle to no one. "You all know I was only playing right?" he said to the pony toys trying his damndest to sound sincerely sorry. "I didn't meant to hurt you or break you; Im just still a little mad. I know you are mad at me too and I'm not the best apple in the bunch...but I'm just a kid." He said in desperation but also sincerity.
"I'm also a boy too, you know what boys are like right? I'm a boy so I like fighting and action and all that stuff....why? Uhhh because?....That's just how I am and how IT is?" He said before leaning back in bed his eyes closing only to spring open, because if they closed; all he could see was Princess Celestia getting beaten by the REAL characters and actually begging him to stop.
"Danny? please, I'm Your best friend"
He looked up at the Celestia toy. "I wish that was true your majesty; I really do, but the real you doesn't seem to want that at all. If I can't be you're friend, I at least don't want this level of pain and suffering to fall on you. "
He picked up the issue of Uncanny X-force and began to read. All the while feeling their eyes on him. He staring whistling "Find the dragon balls" as he read.
Study
The punishments most of those that lay waste to Equestria vary; but none are more a painful to experience than enstatuation. Only one being has been subjected to it and spared with a release afterwards. In spite of committing crimes that permanently damaged the planet's system of ecology; which left equine society dependent of the cooperation of each of the three tribes to survive.
Twilight Was reading her copy of Crime and Punishment through the ages; one of several she was turning too in the hopes of finding answers to her existential dilemma. she sat at her desk; thankfull the late afternoon had grown quite quiet in the New Beginnings, stacks of books all dealing with every subject from the justice system to trials held from the first era all the way to the one she wrote herself on the mane six's own gallery of villains, hoping to Celestia they would yield help.
"No record of anyone ever attacking the Gala." she said mostly to herself; reading from a book on G.G.G. disasters. "It was only canceled three times, always on account of war." She sighed and shook her head closing her book. "Before the final cancellation; other civilized nations had been invited to the gala in the hopes of keeping relations peaceful. It all got thrown out the window since the last cancellation was because almost EVERY one of those nations was at war WITH Equestria." She gave a sigh and looked through a few more pages. "The idea of the old ceremony was peace, big help this I'll do me."
Give gifts
He held three figures in his hands. all of them where very old; almost as old as he once had been. tiny plastic and screws that left an impression of a long lost culture, but they were still suitable for what he was about to do.
While initially developed to bring a pseudo life to *puppets** to perform in shows; advanced static animation can be practiced on any form of representation of whatever it is you are animating.* He read from the stolen book.
"That's good, I only hope that they'll be just what I always wanted." He said as nonchalantly as if he was doing something as normal as ever. Danny Keith had set the old living room of his house up as something of a "laboratory" or "shop." The coffee table cleared of the long outdated newspapers and issues of popular science/mechanics, and replaced with the first of his "friends" he meant to give life. while the book said static animation didn't need anything more than its concentration on the spells to work, but Danny had gone all out. Candles; a snow globe, even dark purple almost black curtains on the windows to keep the light as low as possible.
"Funny, once upon a time what I'm about to do would have been a very bad thing to do according to a lot of people, but I guess that doesn't matter now that I'm the last one with more than two braincells to rub together." He said this as his gaze turned from his arcane table to the family photos on the faux fireplace mantle specifically the framed photo of his father. "Oh I'm sorry Daddy, I didn't mean it like that." He hastily said to the smiling eyes in the frame. A christmas picture; the little one year old sitting on Santa's lap. he had pulled the white beard down exposing the red one, but the boy wasn't saddened by this but rather happy.
Danny placed the figures on the table; lifeless at the moment, just toys. He continued reading. While not entirely necessary; Most unicorn beginners to static animation magic, going on to higher levels, MAY find it easier to place objects or "props" your creation may be using close by. While there's no clear understanding why this tends to make the spells more effective; it is recommended if your are having difficulty, more so if you haven't gained a Cutie mark yet.
That word, he knew it all too well. That little marking the baneful equines gained that dictated their life's callings. "What a crock" he thought to himself. "Those ponies are stuck with one little talent to screw around with from cradle to"...actually he hadn't seen any graves, yet only the two rulers lived as long as he did, interesting. (but that's a subject for another day) "Yet I? I'm a jack of many trades...but I guess they're all useless now; everything from my world is, even it's people." He said seemingly unaware of how in death, they served a greater purpose than any one life.
The figures were of three main heroes from the anime genre; a lifetime (or several) ago just around the time the two allicorns came to his world, he had taken a liking to the the antics and adventures of the three he had in plastic on the table now. Monkey D luffy; Naruto Uzumaki, and young boy Goku. They sat lifeless and silent on the table; the only thing he had left of that old life, outside there was nothing left but a lonely mist. He placed a long bo staff in the Goku's plastic hand, "You're power pole," then a tuff of something that floated just above the surface; "Nimbus Cloud, (it was indeed a bit of a pegasus' cloud) for you." He said this to the one figure before moving on to the next, the ninja trainee Naruto. "I've got something special for you buddy," Danny placed a long spike like object; a starlike object, and another staff like object next to the stiff; smiling, smug, face of Naruto. "you're shuriken; Bōjutsu, and kunai. Use them well; but know this, they're aren't as dangerous as they can be...yet. " All three made metallic clangs as they hit the wood; they were real.
Decisions
"He doesn't deserve half the things I've read in here, but I'll be keeping my eyes open for anything that might raise a few flags." Twilight dictated to spike as he penned it into a letter. "I understand if you don't want to take the possibility of this kid being a serious threat to us the way so many others have been princess Celestia; but if worst comes to worst, and if things go as bad they can with him, I want you to please, please look deep inside yourself to be lenient but not so much as to not consider punishing him at all. Just let us handle whatever happens if anything at all does, yes I've thought long and very deep into this, yes part of me has this feeling that maybe he'll never come back. Twilight Sparkle"
"No you're faithful student or loyal friend twilight?" Spike asked getting his breath ready to send it off.
"It's too important, it's my final decision on the matter of Danny Keith." She trotted around the room growing impatient waiting for the letter to be sent. "I'll keep my eyes open." She said again as she looked out the window. She say far beyond the hills and dales of Ponyville to a mountain somewhere past some lifeless badlands; a mountain that towered to the clouds and constantly seemed to have this thick foggy mist emiting from the top. Twilight's horn started glowing softly, but she wasn't getting a spell ready.
Give Life
"The blades are modified to go cleanly through someone without cutting them; instead the muscles will lock up, the blood will congeal, and they will be rendered immobile and cold, very very, cold, Temporarily of course. No matter what happens, I'm no killer." Danny said as he pointed the timber wolf "wand" to his head and read the passage in the book. You must focus every aspect you want the characters to have in the form of three "Personality cores." An abilities core; a characteristics core, and a morality core. They will be colored Red; Blue and green respectively. As he Said "I'm no killer," three green little glowing balls of light, no bigger than marbles seemed to be pulled from his own head and floated down to the figures; they remained lifeless.
"What happened? why aren't they?..." He flipped some pages; All three cores MUST be sent to all figures, but only the "Master Core" will give life. "Master core? Damnit I knew I should have read this whole thing over before I started." He sighed and looked over the figures as they all started to give off a soft glow. "You're all easy going; laid back, and generally nice guys to hang around with, but strong; heroic, and brave. Your loyalty to me is undying, but you're not minions or lackeys; You're my friends." As he said this three blue cores slid from his head and into them; the glow grew stronger.
In lieu of ability cores, if you don't mind the loss of them, you can convert a book that covers the needed skills, (Like a manual) into the cores. "Is that so? Well guess its a good thing I found these." Danny said this as he pulled three books out from under the table, and set them down next to the Naruto toy. They were bound in bindings not like any in Equestria; for they were books from his world. The Art Of War; The Art of Ninjutsu, and The way Of Shinobi. Focusing all the concentration he had; he waved his timber wolf stick over them. Something; maybe sheer force of will or maybe just the untapped, unused magic in the air, allowed them all to become Red ability cores. The cores glided silently across the wood table and into the Naruto toy, his glow became bright golden yellow.
Static animations can also have abilities granted to them later in the forms of magic spell powers bound to them; this is often used for unicorn characters to replicate the unicorn's magic powers (see the ballad of Star Swirl show of 413 C.E) magic given to these creations may not be as strong as full flesh unicorn magic. "Hmmm, oh Well guess I'll just have to use a placeholder for the other two latter, I don't know if the Equestrians have any sort of spell tomes on how to make themselves stretch like rubber Luffy." He said the to the Luffy toy as if he was alive already, "but for you this book on sword techniques should work; I mean, you are a pirate after all. For you Goku a simple book of karate moves should work." He said getting the respective books out from under the table, the last ones he had for now. "Gotta go back out into the mist see if I can still find the places I got these from as well; Funny, if I didn't know better, I'd say it's almost as if Celestia wanted me to be doing this." he said chuckling to himself. All three of them began glowing a bright golden color; almost ready.
The key step to making the creations of static animation as close to life as possible, involves *YOU** the creator taking a part of yourself and who you are and giving it to them, this will make them closer to actual size; have a closer sense of sentient thought, but most of all, It will bound creator and creation in a way that cannot ever be fully broken, this is the master core.* As Danny read this he placed the tip of the dry, painted black timber wolf bone over his chest, and concentrated on who HE was a person. pouring quite literally "heart and soul" into the last three of cores, and sent them out to the glowing toys. The entire room was suddenly enveloped in a flash of bright purple light so bright; it made the boy's eyes clamp shut. He opened them slowly as the light died down to look, and smiled.
Aftershocks
Miles away in the New Beginnings Library; Twilight felt a strange sensation in her horn. She concentrated on the sure of magic that seemed to be coursing through every hair of her coat to the horn and released it. She felt as if a chill had just cut through her whole body; and a cold blast had shot down her throat into her lungs.
"Sweet Celestia! What just happened?" She asked herself looking back out her window. Yet again all she could see was the strange mountain to the sky. Inside however; she felt something much more. "I hope You know what you're doing." She said aloud thinking of her former mentor turned ally. "And I hope you know what you're doing girl." She said solemnly thinking of herself.
