Fluttershy hummed a soft happy tune to herself as she trotted toward her home, saddlebags filled with fresh food for herself and her animal friends. She had a good day at the market getting food, and she managed to get it all in one trip too. As she opened the front door, Angel the white rabbit flew from the doorway into her bag in the blink of an eye, and chainsaw-quick chewing could be heard from inside.
"Angel? Oh gosh, I didn't know you couldn't wait until I was inside.." Angel popped out of the bag, multiple veggies crammed between his teeth, before she trotted inside and continued, "I could've sworn there was some food left for you... what happened to it all? Surely you didn't eat it all?" A then-very irritated Angel simply swallowed the mouthful, hopped out of the bag, and pointed toward the backdoor. A trail of eaten fruit and vegetable scraps were on the ground, toward a part of the yard where the thicker trees in the forest began.
"Oh.. someone stole your food..? Who was it?" Angel simply shrugged, and made a gesture of height almost matching Fluttershy's. Then he grabbed a blanket and threw it over himself, only able to see his eyes. "So... you don't know who... but they were pony height... wearing a hood..?" Angel nodded. "Well I'll find out who it is then!" A sudden rustle of leaves caused her to squeak and run back inside, slamming the door. "B-but... I should probably get some help..?" Angel just sighed heavily, and took a bite from a carrot in irritation.
"So let me get this straight..." Twilight Sparkle began, trotting toward Fluttershy's home with Applejack and Fluttershy just behind. "You need our help to find a hooded pony you've never met, who stole Angel's food... And all you have to go on is a trail of food and Angel's word?"
"Right. Angel was so hungry, I couldn't even get through the door. Poor thing..." Fluttershy shook her head a little, sighing sadly, before Applejack chimed in.
"Now, I know ya wanna trust in yer forest critter friends, but.. ya sure Angel ain't fibbin' er nuthin'? An' hidin that he ate all th' food? Little guy's got a heck of an appetite.."
"Oh no, of course not. Angel always tells me the truth." Fluttershy trotted a little faster toward the door, opening it and leading everyone inside, to the back door, and out. "And here is the trail. If Angel had done it, he would've at least cleaned up after.." Applejack and Twilight looked at each other with clear suspicion, but decided to play along. They began to follow the trail, looking the scraps over.
"Hmm... Well, judging by the size of the bites, it was definitely big, but they're too sharp to be pony teeth." Twilight levetated an almost-finished carrot chunk, looking over the unusual bite pattern. Applejack pushed a tree branch aside and gasped a little.
"I don't know about that Twilight, lookit this..." Twilight and Fluttershy gathered around her, and exchanged exclamations of awe and confusion. In the dirt beside a tree root was a hoofprint, but it was followed by a large pawprint. "I'm thinkin' it was two critters, maybe a pony an' somethin' else big.. but what in tarnation'd leave a print like that??"
Twilight nodded a little. "Well Angel wasn't lying, afterall. Maybe whoever it is has their own animal companion.." Twilight Sparkle's horn lit up suddenly as she cast a tracking spell on the prints, and several more suddenly lit up in front of them in the ground, illuminating the way as they weaved through the trees.
Applejack stepped in front. "Lemme take point. If this critter's dangerous, best I be in front 'ta stop it." They slowly followed the trail of food and prints in the dirt, Twilight Sparkle in the rear and keeping up the spell. Fluttershy glanced around nervously as they walked about the path, nervously whimpering each time a noise was made around them.
"Don't worry Fluttershy, we'll find--" Snap! A sudden noise caused Twilight to stop and everyone to jump, Fluttershy hiding behind the other two. Twilight flared her wings and made her horn glow brightly. Applejack dug her hooves into the ground to prepare for a sprinting run at whatever was coming. Twilight suddenly spoke up again. "Whoever you are, whatever you are, all of you come out now!"
"... Uh... well... only one of me, but I don't think you want me to do that... You may not like what you see..." The voice was a bit rough, but deep and definitely male. The three suddenly looked at each other, then back in the direction the voice came from.
Twilight responded, "Yes, we're sure. You are the one who stole Fluttershy's food from her forest friends, and you need to apologize!" The male voice gasped a little, then sighed softly.
"Dangit, I had a feeling that was going to cause problems... For what it's worth, I AM sorry..." the voice began, as soft steps came toward the group, before it continued, "but when you haven't eaten in so long, you tend to do whatever you must to feed yourself. Even if it's wrong." When the voiced stopped a figure emerged from the shadows of the trees, covered in a cloak of dirty brown, clearly damaged from constant use.
Fluttershy watched curiously from behind Twilight, but noticed something peculiar about the new figure, and nudged her a bit before she whispered, "Twilight.. look at his hooves..." She looked down and spotted fairly large paws under the cloak instead of front hooves, covered in thick mud. It actually was only one creature the whole time, and Angel was being completely honest. Fluttershy suddenly spoke up this time. "Who.. what are you, stranger..?"
"That is.. difficult to explain.." Fluttershy decided to take a brave step forward this time, thinking to herself that if it was an animal, even a talking one, maybe she could communicate easier. The figure suddenly took a slow step backward at that, before stating, "What are you doing..?"
"Well.. if you can't come to us.. then I'll-- we'll come to you?" Something about this new creature compelled her to come to him, much like how the animals come to her normally. The creature continued to stammer nervously as she approached, continuing to back away. Twilight and Applejack followed closely behind, more confused at this sight of courage from Fluttershy than the creature at this point.
"Fluttershy, what are you doing?" Twilight suddenly spoke up, "It could be dangerous!"
Fluttershy immediately whipped around and shook her head, certainty in her eyes. "No, I don't think he is. He's more afraid of us than anything, and he's not some wild animal. If he were dangerous, he would've already tried something, wouldn't he?" Neither Twilight nor Applejack could respond to that, and Fluttershy turned back around to face the cloaked figure, who had backed away substantially. She attempted to close the gap slowly, with a soft smile on her face. "Come here, friend, and let us meet you, face to face."
At the mention of 'friend,' he suddenly paused, one paw in the air, thinking for a long moment. Twilight and Applejack watched closely all the while from behind Fluttershy, paying attention for anything uusual it... he may do. Sighing softly, the male nodded softly, muttered a soft "okay," and allowed her to approach. He watched all three closely from under the hood, but more Fluttershy, with her bright and confident eyes. She stopped before him, the other two at her sides. He carefully stepped a bit closer, before he began, "Well... here I am... so, what now..?"
Fluttershy smiled and responded, "Could you remove your hood for us please..?" He reared back slightly with an unsure grunt, but something about this pony made him feel.. more calm, for some reason.. He reached up to his hood and pulled it back slowly, and underneath revealed the dirtiest, shaggiest pile of fur anypony would ever see, to the point his face was completely obscured.
"Well Dang pardner, lookin' like you could use a trim an' scrub. How long's it been since ya seen a pair o' shears, or a bucket o' clean water?"
He sighed softly, his whole pile of fur shaking a little as he spoke. "Too long... I keep to myself, for many reasons. I clean my fur as best I can in this small river back at my home." He pulled his hood back up, stuffing the fur under it again in a rolling motion. "I would love a trim personally, as well as getting cleaned up, but I'm not able to. No access to either, and.. well.."
Twilight interrupted, "What if we took you to our local salon and spa? The mares there are great at helping ponies look amazing. They do a great job for all of us, right?" Fluttershy and Applejack smiled and nodded, but the cloaked figure backed up a little.
"NO!" He cleared his throat a little sighed softly, shaking his head a bit, before continuing "Sorry, I uh.. I mean, No. I can't. I haven't been around anyone or anything else since... as far back as I can remember. I just... I can't."
Fluttershy trotted up to his side slowly and responded calmly, "It's okay to be afraid, I understand. But you need to get cleaned up, if for no other reason, for your own sake. And I.. We would be with you the whole time." He thought it over for a few moments, before he nodded a little, and Fluttershy smilled wide.
The four walked out of the forest in pairs, Twilight and Applejack in front. Fluttershy made sure to stay at his side, but he made sure there was a bit of space between them. Twilight gasped a little and smiled at the pair behind her, suddenly mentioning, "I have an idea to make it easier on you. We just need to make a stop at Rarity's place." He raised his head a little, but listened curiously.
Rarity trotted toward out the entrance of the spa, the group of Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, and the hooded figure waiting outside. "And there we go da'lings, all for us to ourselves to help your new friend.. uh.. what did you say your name was..?"
He quietly responded, "... I didn't..."
"Oh.. right.. well nonetheless, I'm glad you contacted me when you did, Twilight. I needed a break from my latest design ideas, and they were more than willing to reserve the whole spa for us. All I had to do was mention there was a special somepony in dire need of their help. By the way, where are Rainbow Dash and Pinky Pie?"
"Well, Rainbow Dash is doin' some trainin' with the Wonderbolts an' said she'd join us later, and Pinkie Pie's makin' us some special treats. Figured it'd be best 'ta let 'er meet 'im last. Guy's nervous enough as it is, ya know?" Applejack motioned toward the hooded figure, and everyone just nodded and muttered in agreement as the group of five trotted inside. They were greeted by a blue mare with pink hair who trotted forward, greeting the group at the door.
"Welcome, all. So Rarity, you mentioned a special case. Who needs the assistance? Certainly not You, of all ponies."
Rarity just laughed at the flattery before she responded, "Oh of course not, but a good hoof scrub may be in order for later. It's for our mysterious guest." She gestured toward the hooded male, before she continued, "From what I'm told, his mane, fur, hooves, paws, and tail are all in bad shape. He needs the best of the best."
"Of cour--" The mare paused with a confused look. "I'm.. I'm sorry, did you say hooves AND paws..?"
"Oh believe me da'ling, I said the same thing when I heard, but just go along with it. Apparently he has both, so let's see where this day takes us, shall we?" The mare smiled and nodded, and she gestured to a group of five ponies near a back room doorway, each with combs, shears, and the finest shampoos & conditioners at the ready. When he saw them, the hooded male started to step backward nervously, shaking his head slowly.
"Whoa, whoa, th-that's.. I'm sorry, I can't do this.." He started backing toward the door, but when his rear bumped into Fluttershy, he turned around to ace her. "I thought this would just be one or two, but.. I just.." He was visibly shaking a little under his cloak, causing everyone to look toward him sympathetically. Twilight suddenly felt a little worse for the way she called him an 'it' and 'dangerous' back in the forest. Fluttershy must've saw it long before she did; he couldn't hurt a fly.
Fluttershy smiled a little reassuringly. "Hey... it's alright... they only want to help, just like us." His hidden ears perked somewhat under the hood. "We've all come here before, and I promise, they will just clean your fur, trim your mane, and get you looking nice again." She looked back to the group of five, and he turned back as well. They were all patiently waiting for them, smiling and waving, as Fluttershy continued, "Doesn't that sound nice?"
"Well... yeah, it honestly does..." He scratched the back of his neck with a muddy paw, before he sighed. "Alright.. alright, I'll trust you.. and them.. just, uh.. Fluttershy, right..? Please come with me." This made her smile wider, and blush a little nervously, but she nodded some, more than willing to help him. The male continued, "Alright, let's do this.. Do you have a place to clean my cloak too..?"
"Oh leave that to me da'ling, I can take it and fix it up for you good as new while you're getting clean." Rarity smiled and lit her horn, the cloak suddenly lifting and a 'poof' sounding out, exposing a filthy brown and black shaggy mess of fur, thick with mud, ash, and who-knows-what-else. The fact that whoever it was could walk with all that filth weighing him down was a mystery. The blue mare with pink hair and a pink mare with blue hair approached, guiding the male toward the back. He and Fluttershy slowly trotted forward, a small dirt trail following him along as he walked.
Rarity trotted out the front door, and Twilight followed, eager to see what the cloak could tell them about their new guest just as much as anything else. Meanwhile, Applejack decided to sit down and wait by the front counter for the moment. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash burst in through the doors and made a resoundingly loud skid across the ground, stopping right in front of Applejack. "Sorry I'm late, had to do speed drills. Takes longer than it should for being called speed drills. So what'd I miss?"
"Well, ya missed our new friend goin' into the next room with Fluttershy, of all ponies. Somethin' about 'im's got 'er attention, thinkin' it's cuz he's some kind of critter that can talk, prob'ly."
"Whaaat?! Something other than a pony that can talk? You sure it's not a dragon in disguise or some kind of prank?" As they talked, water could be heard being heavily splashed and poured from the next room, as well as scrubbing and some giggling of mares.
"I ain't sure of anythin' right now, but that was definitely not a pony with a costume. He was hungry, an' a mess, an' Fluttershy wanted to help 'im, so... here we are." Sounds of running water rang out again, followed by snipping and cutting from scissors and shears. And soft thuds of, what Applejack assumed to be, hair and fur. The pink and blue ponies trotted out, smiling softly, before Applejack asked them both, "so what's goin' on with our new friend?"
The pink pony began, "They needed more room, but he's quite a mess apparently. Rarity was right to reserve the spa." More snipping and soft thuds, followed by a few soft murmurs of encouragement, could be heard.
The blue pony finished, "It's been some time since someone in That bad of shape showed up here, but our team is definitely up to the challenge." Both mares smiled proudly toward Rainbow Dash and Applejack.
"You two're kidding right? I mean, he can't be That bad.." Rainbow Dash paused as she saw three of the ponies suddenly trotted out, each magically pushing large brooms with dirty piles of fur into another room, before she continued, "Or... maybe he could."
The pair waited about an hour as the snipping, brushing, and splashing continued, and even some occasional grinding of files could be heard from the room beyond. Once it finally stopped, the five stepped out, sighing softly with prideful smiles. One brown mare walked to the pink and blue pair and started, "Well Rarity wasn't kidding about this, it was Not easy, but we did it."
"Well don't keep us waiting, let's see him!" A very impatient Rainbow dash declared. Fluttershy stepped out first, smiling all over herself, and ushered someone out. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and the pink & blue pair all gasped as the figure trotted out for them to see.
Meanwhile, at Rarity's boutique, she sighed happily and sat down with the cloak, now a vibrant golden color, before exclaiming, "There we are, much better. Just needed a good scrub and the dirt and grime came right off. Meanwhile, Twilight used her magic to try and analyze the material. Twilight flipped through several books at the same time, before she replied, "I don't understand.. this material isn't old, or at least it doesn't seem like it, and I can't find anything about it in your books."
"Indeed da'ling, I haven't seen anything like this used to make clothing before.. but it's thick, warm, and durable. Remind me to ask him abut it next time I see him." Rarity began removing old stitches from the material and replacing it with new, tighter stitching, matching its original coloring. "It stitches so easily, but the material is resilient.. never seen anything like it."
"Well I doubt he'll tell you where he found it. He almost ran off at the sight of your boutique when we told him what it was. He is terrified of anypony so much as looking at him. Thanks again for reserving the spa for us, by the way."
"Think nothing of it, anything for a friend. Aaand... done!" Rarity levitated the cloak, revealing it to be cleaned, the stitches replaced, and sporting a pair of pockets near the top corners. She also gave it a new neck tie-on with a red badge on the front, before she continued, "Only thing I couldn't save was the badge... can't make it out either." She held out her hoof, the broken orange and silver circle in small pieces.
Twilight trotted over to take a look, and levitated the pieces together, making what looked like an angry eye, but unable to tell more. "Hmm... maybe he can tell us about it when we get back? I'm sure he'll be happy you did so well with the cloak. It might help him open up to you a little, at least." Rarity hummed happily, folded the cloak & fragments up, and placed it all in her saddlebag, slipping it on as they headed out the door.
Laughter could be heard as Rarity and Twilight trotted in the door to the spa again. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack turned around in the hot water jacuzzi to wave at them, smiling wide. "Hey you two, welcome back to the party!" Rainbow Dash fluttered out of the water onto a towel, Applejack and Fluttershy simply stepping ut and walking down te small staircase.
"Party? Without Pinky Pie?" Twilight was stunned, before a confetti cannon suddenly exploded and coated both her and Rarity in confetti. "Uh.. nevermind.. so what's the party for?"
"To celebrate our new friend's new look, of course!" Pinky Pie bounced out from around the corner, a pointy party hat on her head. A splashing sound followed, and a figure descended the small staircase. All six turned to face the noise, and Twilight and Rarity stared with gaping mouths. A copper brown figure slowly trotted forward, his black front paws tipped with red talons and brown rear hooves clacking on the floor, the black & slightly longer fur on all four limbs dripping with water.
He shook his head suddenly, his flowing black mane with crimson streaks shaking about, as he opened his eyes and revealed deep ruby red eyes against his copper furred face, a small black nose upon the end of a slightly boxy fox snout. A trail of white rode the underside of his muzzle, down his stomach, and over his rear, ending at the pony tail of mostly copper, with a ring of black before ending in a white tip. His pointy ears would flick softly, mostly black on the back and filled with white, as a white towel hung loosely from his neck.
Both Twilight and Rarity were stunned at his completely transformed appearance, but Twilight suddenly noticed his flank was completely void of any kind of mark. Before she could think about it more, Pinkie Pie suddenly chimed in, grinning. "Yeah, we all said the same thing when we saw him." The two shook their heads suddenly, Fluttershy walking up to his side and smiling at the group.
"We were just getting to know him, trying to find out something about him. He has a little home outside Ponyville, deep in the forest near the mountainside." Fluttershy smiled, and he nodded a little, but he sniffed the air a little, getting a whiff of the fresh cupcakes Pinky Pie brought, and trotted toward them curiously.
"Yeah, and that's about all we got out of him. He still hasn't told us his name," Rainbow Dash suddenly declared.
He sighed a little. "If I knew it, I would've definitely told you by now." He trotted to the counter where the cupcakes waited, looking them over.
Twilight jumped in. "You... don't know who you are?" He shook his head.
Rarity chimed in. "How about 'what' you are?" He shook his head again.
Applejack stepped up. "What about yer hometown?" Another shake, and he picked a cupcake up from the tray.
Pinky Pie suddenly popped up behind him, clearly panicked. "What about your favorite foods?!" He shrugged at that one, and Pinkie suddenly poofed to the rest of the group, skidding to a stop. "That's just awful! How do you survive without your favorite foods?!" She gasped and flopped backward suddenly in a dramatic fashion.
"I eat whatever I can find. I'm not too picky." He sniffed the cupcake a little, biting into it curiously. "Mm. Would be nice to know though. Delicious, by the way." Pinky Pie sat up and grinned, bouncing about again.
"Hm..." Twilight began, trotting forward slowly in deep thought. "There's a few people we could see and talk to about this, so maybe we can get some answers." He stared at her wide eyed, halfway through taking a bite from another cupcake, and she continued "I know it's been a difficult day for you, with all the new ponies and such, but I think we all want answers, and that includes you."
He released the cupcake from his maw and sighed, licking some of the icing off his lips. "Well.. you're not wrong.. just.. no huge crowds, just a couple people?" He bit the cupcake as she smiled and nodded. He swallowed his mouthful and sighed a little. "Well.. alright, I'll play along." Everyone suddenly cheered toward the new plan, even Fluttershy. "But what about my cloak? If people see me without it, who knows what they'll do?"
Rarity stepped forward, her horn lighting up, before she stated, "Not to worry da'ling, we managed to fix your cloak for you, so now you can walk through town with nary a peek!" She then levitated the cloak over the hybrid's head, causing it to land perfectly over him and fit him better with his new shorter haircut.
He gasped softly, and shook about under it, grinning a sharply toothy grin, before he replied, "Whoa, this is... great! It feels like it's brand new! And-- whoa, you gave it pockets?! Thank you.. all of you..." He sighed happily, his paw going over the well-cleaned material.
"Of course, but sadly the badge couldn't be saved. It was too broken." Rarity levitated the fragments to him, and he stared at the symbol they appeared to make. But he grinned, clenching his paw tight, and put them in a pocket in the cloak.
Twilight suddenly gave the directions. "Alright everyone, let's get started. Pinky Pie, you and Applejack go to Zecora's and see if she's free to help us. Rarity, you and I can go back to the Castle of Friendship. I'll run some tests, and you talk to Spike about writing a letter to Princesses Celestia and Luna to help. Rainbow Dash, you and Fluttershy see about getting him to Discord, see if he can pick up on anything. Let's go!" As they headed out the door, he quickly trotted back to swipe another cupcake, which made Fluttershy giggle a little and Pinky Pie squeak happily.
"So you never told me... Who exactly is Discord?" He asked as he, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash headed toward Fluttershy's home.
"He's basically the Lord of Chaos with all this crazy magic power and can do almost anything and is TOTALLY AWESOME," Rainbow Dash responded, fluttering above the other two.
"Uh... huh... and... you guys just happen to be friends with the Lord of Chaos..? And he randomly visits Fluttershy's house?"
Fluttershy smiled and nodded. "That's right. We usually have tea when he stops by."
He stared at her blankly for a few moments before he responded, "I swear this day gets weirder and weirder..." He just shook his head and sighed as they reached the front door, and Fluttershy opened it for the other two. "But, if you're sure he can help, we'll see what happens... I guess..."
"Oh you Guess, do you..?" A voice suddenly rang out of the room itself, before a swirling vortex of energy appeared, and various animal body parts suddenly spewed from it onto the floor. The parts suddenly levitated themselves and formed a body, to which Discord's head attached last, and he suddenly grinned widely, before he continued, "Well I must say, I find your lack of faith disturbing, what with you being a chaotic-looking hybrid yourself." Discord simply trotted over and had a seat in a chair in the living room.
"Whaaat? What do you mean by hybrid?" Rainbow Dash trotted up and asked Discord, to which he levitated their now-defined hybrid friend forward.
"You are looking at a mix between a pony and a fox, as well as some extremely powerful and ancient magic. Haven't seen anything like it in ages." The hybrid began to panic, but Discord simply flipped him upside-down and sniffed his black & red mane playfully. He suddenly gained a distressed expression, before sneezing roughly at a basket of apples, causing the color of the apples to splash onto the floor like wet paint. "Oh! Bless me... and there's far more than that in there too. All sorts of magic are fluttering about in your friend here... Oh this will be fun to discover!" He began to applaud rapidly as he let the hybrid go, landing on all fours on the floor.
"Well that's One thing we didn't know before, a hybrid made by magic." Rainbow Dash smiled, but Discord popped up behind her and responded quickly.
"Oh I never said he was Created by this magic, no. Impossible to tell, but he was more than likely given this magic, given the variety... But I will say this, this little wildfire is quite special." He grabbed a blank apple out of the basket he sneezed on, and bit into it, some of the red color on the floor disappearing with it, before he continued, "So sorry to eat and run, but I have some things to take care of. Do tell me what you discover when you find out though, we'll have cookies to celebrate!" He suddenly disappeared in a poof of confetti and glitter, deciding to take a page from Pinky Pie's book.
"Hm.. That's not like him to just disappear like that.. whatever it is must be important.." Fluttershy mused, and smiled toward their hybrid friend, "but he still told us something new about you. I've never met a hybrid before."
"Me neither, so cool! Come on, let's see if anyone else found anything out about you!" Rainbow Dash rushed out of the house in a hurry, but Fluttershy just walked alongside their hybrid friend, smiling at him as they trotted after Rainbow Dash. He was distracted by that word though, hybrid. It stuck in his head for some reason, like he'd heard it somewhere before..
Pinky Pie and Applejack trotted toward Twilight's castle with Zecora in tow, pushing open the doors to step inside. As they walked down the hall, Zecora exclaimed, "This castle will never cease to strike awe... now, where is this creature of both hoof and paw..?"
"Prob'ly ain't here yet, but he's bound to be on 'is way. Meantime, Twilight an' Rarity were lookin' up stuff in the library." Applejack pushed open the door, and found dozens of books laying open and scattered about in piles, and a frantic Twilight looking through three more, frustratingly groaning all the while. Applejack stepped in and spoke cautiously, "Uh.. Twilight..? Zecora's here, ya'll can take a break."
Twilight turned and dropped the books, sighing heavily. "Thank you... there's nothing here on him, at all, in any of the animal books. I'm exhausted..." She trotted toward the three, and smiled seeing they brought Zecora. "Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were bringing him to Discord to look over." As she spoke those words, the doors opened up once again, the flapping of wings coming through the halls, as Twilight followed up, "Actually, I think that's them now."
Rainbow Dash rocketed past the room, then turned back around and flew in through the library doorway, landing beside Twilight. "Hey, find anything?" Twilight shook her head no, but Rainbow Dash grinned and stated, "Well Discord had something to say. Said he's chock full of magic, and old stuff at that. Called him a high.. something or other."
"A hybrid, Rainbow Dash," stated Fluttershy as she rounded the corner, their new hybrid friend rounding the corner just behind her, before she continued, "Do you know anything about this, Zecora?" Twilight's eyes widened as she ran back toward the books, flipping through a few still on the shelves, and Zecora approached the hybrid.
"Oh my, a true hybrid you say? Well, this makes for an interesting day..." Zecora slowly trotted around him as she spoke, "In days of old, there were many of you, but one day your kind were reduced to a few. The well known ones left were a scant few, but they too disappeared... until we found you. You are one of a kind, this much is true, but you don't know your name, do you?" He shook his head, and she continued, "I can only imagine what you've been through, to lose your family and identity too..."
"Found it!" Twilight suddenly exclaimed, a larger book being levitated and opened, rolling a thin cloud of dust through the room, before she continued, "Hmm... the hybrids were an ancient magical race of creatures, who were a physical mix of two creatures, most often ponies being one of the two... all of them had powerful magic, some believed moreso than any being in history? Wait, even the princesses? That's not possible...
"When discovered of their amazing magical powers, several groups of scientists, warriors, and other highly skilled magical creatures would come to challenge, experiment, and try to find the source of their magics, until the High Council of their land decided to have them all go into hiding, although the mystery of how they did it is, to this day, unknown... Well, it's something, I guess?" Twilight slammed the book shut, leaving everyone stunned and the hybrid thinking deeply.
"Hey Twilight, you have a message from the princesses!" Spike slowly rounded the corner into the library, a scroll under his arm and Rarity walking in beside him, before he paused at the sight of the hybrid creature. "Oh, uh, hello... So you're the Mystery wonder pony I heard about, huh? Hey... that sounds like a superhero name!" The male actually snickered a little at that, before Spike took the scroll and opened it, reading aloud:
"Dear Princess Twilight,
"This discovery of not only a previously unknown resident of Ponyville, but also a possibly new creature entirely, is a very momentous occasion. As such, I wish you to all come to the castle so we may also meet the new member of our great land of Equestria.
"Signed, Princesses Celestia and Luna."
Everyone suddenly gasped and began to chatter excitedly, except for the Mystery hybrid, who was looking to the floor, deep n thought. "Are you sure ths is a good idea? I mean, I get that I've already met a fleet of hairstylists, a shaman zebra, and the Lord of Chaos in the same day, but... the princesses of the entire land? This is huge... I'm assuming... Are you sure she'll know anything?"
Fluttershy smiled and trotted forward again. "Everyone we've spoken to today has told you something you didn't know. Zeora knew from her tales, Discord knew from experience, and even Twilight's books had something. I'm confident the princesses would know somethng." The hybrid stared her in the eye, that sparkling confidence drawing his attention, and he smiled a little.
"You know what? You're right. If anyone would know anything, it would have to be the princesses. Let's do this. Let's go to the castle!" Everyone cheered and trotted out the door in a group, Fluttershy smiling and staying behind for a moment. The hybrid threw his hood up, and Fluttershy trotted out beside him, watching him closely, smiling at him all the while. She noticed how well the gold went with his copper fur, and blushed a bit when she caught herself staring.
The group of now nine entered together, trotting into the castle's main hall, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna sat waiting for the group. As they approached, everyone bowed in respect, except the musterious golden hooded figure, whom was quickly pulled down by a random purple hoof. The princesses stood and stepped forward as everyone rose up, before Celestia spoke first.
"Welcome. You nine have, from what I have been told, had a very interesting day indeed. Zecora, very nice to see you again." Zecora smiled suddenly and nodded in encouragement, before she continued, "Now then, where is this Mystery creature I have been told about?"
As he stepped forward, Twilight strode in beside him, beginning the conversation. "He is called a hybrid, an ancient magical being of great power. Discord said to be careful of him, and mentioned powerful magic, but aside from some shyness, he's completely harmless." He removed his cloak with a bit of flare in his paw, shaking his head and mane free. Celestia smiled at him, but Luna stepped forward with some caution.
"Discord regards him as having powerful magic? How powerful?" Luna asked curiously.
Twilight laughed a little nervously, but replied, "Well... the book I found may have misrepresented it, but it said his people had magical power that even rivaled the princesses..."
Celestia stepped up to him, looking him over and gazing into his eyes, to which his ears perked nervously. "Hmm... what do you know of your own race, exactly?"
"Uh.. what you've been told..?"
"Hm.." Celestia paused and backed away some, looking upward. "I know of your kind, though only a little. Yours was a great and powerful race of pony-kind, with legendary magic skill. But, they were constantly subjected to fear from neighboring kingdoms. For reasons unknown, many believed their 'legendary magical abilities' could, and would, be used against whomever they felt, and could start a war."
"But these beings were completely harmless to anyone, and only wanted peace. While they constantly tried to be kind to even those that had only fear-driven hatred, some would still fear them, and even attacked them, because of that fear alone. One day, the entire race simply disappeared, and while the method was not known, it was believed to have allowed their race to seamlessly blend in with other ponies."
Applejack trotted forward and looked to Celestia. "Now, that sounds mighty amazin' an' all, but the main problem's that our friend don't remember none of it. Maybe if we help 'im remember who he was, we may get some answers too, right Princess?"
"A very wise idea, Applejack. I believe I know of a spell to help with lost memories. Would you be interested in trying this, my friend?" Celestia motioned to the hybrid, who thought it over for a few moments.
"Well... wasn't expecting a magical solution, but.. alright, let's try it." Celestia stepped back to Luna, and the rest of the group stepped back as well, leaving the hybrid alone. Celestia and Luna charged their spells in their horns, before they finally discharged, a beam of white and purple light striking the hybrid, and he suddenly groaned in pain, clawing at the ground sharply for several moments.
He suddenly gasped, his eyes shining multiple colors, before he shouted in anguish. Everyone was concerned, but Fluttershy suddenly gasped and ran forward first, without thinking, a tear in her eye, shouting "Stooop!" as she suddenly landed on the hybrid, causing herself to become zapped by the painful magic as well.
"FLUTTERSHY!!!" Everyone exclaimed as the two screamed and yelled out in anguish, before the beams of light ended, the two falling to the floor and coated in a white and purple swirling glow. The princesses, suddenly worried, stepped forward to see the two closer. They were breathing, but completely unconscious. Luna suddenly shouted, "Guards, get them to the infirmary now!"
The hybrid and Fluttershy slowly stood, the two groaning and shaking their heads. Looking around, they could see they were in a forest of some sort, almost indistinguishable from any other. Fluttershy started, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah... are you..?"
"Oh I'm okay, thank you for asking. But where are we?"
"Not sure exactly, some forest? Wait..." He flicked his ear a little, hearing a voice in the distance, before he continued, "This way..." The two trotted forward slowly until they found a clearing, and everything suddenly faded to black for a moment, before reforming into the inside of a thriving city surrounded by massive stone walls. The ceiling above shimmered brilliantly in multiple colors, lighting up the whole town.
And running about were groups of ponies, canines, felines, gryphons, birds, and several hundred hybrids of those and other species, among other creatures simply wandering about. They were both shocked to see how large the buildings were, the thriving business being done at every corner, and the sheer variety of the beings that lived in complete harmony.
"Is this...?"
"Yeah, I... think it's my home..." The two slowly trotted closer, glancing about as noone paid them even a moment of attention, the two slowly smiling and enjoying the peacefulness of the city. "I think the memory spell worked, Fluttershy. But... why are you here too?"
She blushed a little, but sheepishly responded, "Oh.. well.. you were in alot of pain.. I tried to make them stop it, knock you out of harm's way, but.. seems like I got in the way instead.." Her ears drooped, as did her wings, suddenly feeling a bit upset. He suddenly wrapped his large fluffy arms around her neck, hugging her body tightly, eyes closed and smiling. She squeaked at the sudden hug, clearly shocked.
"Thank you... You've done so much for me, and I'm sorry you were hurt in the process... But why did you do it? Isn't a memory spell supposed to hurt?"
"Not normally, I don't think.."
Before they could continue the conversation further, several explosions suddenly occurred, as well as loud screams from all directions. Suddenly the townspeople were running to different directions, some flying about, and some even burrowing into the ground. Suddenly, armored beings in black, silver and gold plating ran in from all directions, firing magic spells and weapons in every direction.
The area around them faded out, and they suddenly found themselves in a new building, overlooking the damage being done. They both gasped as they saw not only how large the town was, but how much of it was being destroyed. Turning around, they came face to face with a large table of thirteen chairs, as well as a hole in the center of that table, all chairs occupied with different figures in cloaks similar to his.
The center suddenly lit up, and from it rose another chair, a being of pure shimmering white and multiple tails sitting upon it. His voice bellowed, but sounded like multiple voices at once. "This has gone on for too long. This must end now. Sanskrit... please begin the preparations."
Suddenly a being in an orange cloak rose from the table, walking toward the window the two watched from. The window opened, and an orange glow radiated from his hood, before he let out a tremendous ear shattering roar. The two covered their ears as the roar seemed to ripple in waves of orange through the air. As it rippled out, anything it touched seem to freeze in place, both the beings and the explosions.
Before they had a chance to see any farther, the area blurred out again and faded back in, the two now outside of the same building, but the hybrids were now lined up outside in several lines, most of them concerned and several of them injured. As the hybrids slowly trotted inside, bright flashes of light would appear every few moments, each a different color.
He gasped, and suddenly rushed inside, Fluttershy chasing after him quickly, but he stopped dead in the doorway, a mortified and terrified look on his face. Each hybrid that walked into the space was stepping into what looked like a giant bubble, and a rainbow shower was dousing them from inside.
As they progressed from one side of the bubble to the other, it looked like their fur was separating from them, revealing a basic pony body underneath, each one brandished with new fur colors and simplistic cutie marks. As they trotted out of the other side of the bubble, the part that was separated from these now-ponies suddenly dissolved into small orbs of color, and rose through the bubble and toward the ceiling.
"Is... this what happened to my people..? They were forcibly split from themselves..?" He watched the same happen to multiple ponies over several moments, sitting down with a deep remorse painted on his muzzle, before he continued, "I... I was here when this all happened... But why didn't I stop this? I wouldn't let this happen, I couldn't!"
Fluttershy trotted up beside him, watching closely, before she responded, "Wait... if this really is the memory spell at work... then where are you in all of this..?" He slowly raised his head up and glanced about, not seeing any sign of himself nearby. He glanced up, and gasped, pointing a paw straight in the air, a digit pointing to where the orbs were raising to.
"I'm thinking I'm up there... if this is my memory, then I would've seen all of this as it happened." Fluttershy nudged him up, and pointed to a staircase.
"Then let's go see what happened to you." He nodded, and the two rushed to the staircase, running up as fast as they could, and they skidded to a stop when they reached the top. A dozen hybrids in cloaks with hoods drawn back stood at a pedestal, all surrounding a seven foot shimmering crystal sphere, where all the magic balls were rising and being absorbed.
"All the... whatever those are, are in this... thing? And they're just letting it happen? Or are they making it happen?" He asked loudly to noone in particular. "And where am I in all of this?" As he said that, the light suddenly dimmed in the sphere, and a figure near it was revealed, walking forward, before the figure suddenly collapsed. The group rushed forward and surrounded the fallen figure, as did Fluttershy and the hybrid, but when the two rushed ahead to see what happened, the world around them dissolved again.
But this time, when the world reappeared, it was completely different. A small stone building was in view, a small stone crate against the side of a mountain, with a pile of straw in the center and a few buckets to the side. "Hey, I recognize this place... This is my place... And if this is a memory, then..."
The pile of straw suddenly shifted about, and the very same hybrid popped his head out, sneezed roughly, and looked around, before stating out loud, "Where am I?" His eyes suddenly widened when his stomach growled, and the image faded out, everything starting to go dark. "What, wait! That's it?! What about me?! What about my race?! How?! Why?! Answer meee!!!" And their world went black.
Shouting, the hybrid suddenly sat up in a large bed, as did Fluttershy in a bed beside him. Both panting heavily, they looked around to find themselves in a new room, with the other ponies, Spike, and Zecora resting in a corner. Before either of them could say anything, Princesses Celestia and Luna stepped up, and shushed them quietly, guiding them toward the door and out, shutting it behind them as they walked slowly.
When they were a fair distance, Celestia spoke, "I can already tell there is much you have learned, little one, but first, are you both okay? That seemed to put you in more pain than it should have." They both nodded, the hybrid more somber and looking to the floor, before she continued, "Hmm.. care to tell me what you learned..?"
"They... were at war... being attacked... they did something, stopped all the attackers.. and, they..." He paused, wiping a tear from his eye, before he continued, "They stripped themselves of their hybrid bodies, sealed it all away! They just became regular ponies!!" He suddenly flopped down, breaking down into tears and sobbing loudly. Both princesses gasped softly, looking to each other with deep concern.
Fluttershy trotted forward and extended a hoof, but before she could reach his shoulder, a burst of blue energy suddenly erupted from his body, engulfing him. All three suddenly stepped back, Celestia shouting, "What is this magic?!" They watched for a few moments until the energy dispersed, revealing a new creature altogether.
Where there was brown, was now replaced with aquatic sapphire. Where there was white, there was now aquamarine. Where there was fur, there was now scales. Paws were now scales and talons, ears now fins, animalistic muzzle with a more reptilianne muzzle, red streaked hair replaced with jet black hair, a new scaled tail, a pair of fin-like wings, small white head horns, and eyes becoming a deep coal black as they slowly opened. This new creature, clearly a dragonic hybrid, carefully stood on all four legs, glancing about, a small puddle of water slowly forming beneath his hooves and claws. His body was somewhat obscured by a new cloak as well, now a deep marine blue with a mark of three drops of water. The three watched as his wings opened and spread, also dripping water, before he spoke out in a low tone, "Mm.. well.. greetings.. where am I exactly..?"
"Well.. this is Ponyville of Equestria. And I am Princess Celestia," she replied, "But now, a question for you.. who, or rather what, are you?"
"Right.. I am Tide, High Mage of Water, of the Land of Duality. And the fact that I am here..." He paused, wiping a tear from his eye, "...means our self-preservation measure was a success..." He paused again, glancing about at the various pegasi guards, earth ponies, unicorn guards, and alicorns, before finishing, "...or perhaps not?"
"Um.. excuse me.. self preservation..?" Fluttershy trotted forward slowly, staring at Tide nervously, before she continued cautiously, "What do you mean exactly..?"
"Hm?" Tide looked down to the pink and yellow pegasus pony, blinking slowly, before he continued, "Oh.. it was a last ditch effort to protect our noble race, albeit dangerous.. Very dangerous.. the casualties were few, but precious.."
Fluttershy gasped a little. "You mean.. the person with the orb who fell.. they..?"
Tide snapped suddenly, "How do you know about that?"
Celestia and Luna both stepped forward, wings spread to shield Fluttershy from the sharpness of Tide's words. Tide suddenly took a breath, and calmed himself. "My apologies.. yes, we lost one young spry, hotheaded hybrid.. He suggested preserving the hybrid identities and magic within a special crystal orb, The Lacrima..." Tide paused for a moment, his wings folding in against his sides with a soft sigh, before he continued, "Hiding everyone as earth ponies and scattering them to the far corners to lead new lives, war-free lives.."
"We saw.. in the vision.." Fluttershy pushed forward gently through the wings, "Did he make it..?"
"A vision..? Hm.. Yes, but.. he paid a heavy toll.. He saved our magic, at the cost of his own, and almost his life.. a selfless individual. He earned that golden cloak he bore so proudly." Everyone gasped softly, before Tide continued, "And I can see by your reaction that you know of him.."
Luna, confused, stepped forward this time. "Yes, that brave hybrid was standing right where you stood, before you appeared. Care to explain?"
"That... that was the other step of the plan, albeit a hasty one.. What you see is a type of body possession magic, attached to emotional context. It was a possible chance to anchor our own existence to a mobile body, so we would not be bound to the lacrima like the others... tell me, before I appeared, what was happening..?"
"The youngling was in tears.." Equestria turned and guided everyone to follow her, leading the group toward the throne room, before she comtinued, "We exposed him, and Fluttershy by accident, to a memory recovery spell, which caused him great pain for some reason, leading him to pass out. He awoke much later, was recalling the fighting and some sort of spell that separated his people from their bodies, and it drove him to tears."
"Hm.. So I was summoned from his sadness.. Not what I expected, to say the least." He sighed a little through his nose before he continued, "Now, a question for you three.." He paused as the princesses sat at their throne and Fluttershy turned around, "You say you used a memory recovery spell on him... And you say it caused him to fall.. Is there an issue with his memory?"
Fluttershy pouted a little when she responded, "Well.. he has no idea who or what he is.. Come to think of it, we still don't know his name.."
Eyes wide, Tide stared at the three in shock. "Oh.. the poor lad.. I never knew.. if you saw his memory, you know he fell after he fueled the lacrima.. he was unconscious for so long.." He suddenly sat down, thinking deeply as another tear rolled down his scaled cheek.
"HE fueled the lacrima crystal?" Fluttershy asked, and Tide nodded solemnly.
"If I had to guess, the drain damaged both his body and his mind, and a magic force making him recall lost memories must have been the cause of the pain.. His sacrifice took a heavy toll on his body.. It drained both his magic, and a substantial amount of his life energy.. But he singlehandedly sealed all of our hybrid kin within the lacrima, except us twelve.. Without his magic, he inadvertently made himself a perfect storage vessel.. We had the same spell cast upon ourselves and separated ourselves, but stored ourselves within him. We took a chance that, if we sealed our magics within him, it may heal him too, and keep him alive, as well as grant us separate mobility.. If it had failed, we would have all been lost.." He began to tear up again.
Luna squinted a little and interrupted, "So, if I have this right.. the young hybrid sacrified himself and all his magic, to seal and protect his entire race, and you Leaders saved him by separating your magics and identities, sealing them all into Him, and making him into a walking talking multiple-personalitied and emotionally-volatile timebomb?!"
Tide blinked slowly before he responded, "That... is the gist of it, I suppose.. And he is alive as well.. So our goal was a success." he sighed softly before looking to the ceiling, smiling a little, and continued, "And it looks like my time is up. He has calmed down enough to where I can no longer sustain myself on his sadness.."
He stood slowly, spreading his wings, and bowed toward the three. "For what it is worth, it was a pleasure meeting you three." Suddenly his body seemed to liquify, his wings, tail, scales and horns turning to pure water before splashing to the ground, and revealing the original fox hybrid, soaking wet, looking around slowly, confused.
"I... feel like I missed something... could I get an explanation..?" Fluttershy trotted forward and nodded, guiding the two to walk down the long hall back to the rest of the group as she explained the scenes in full, a slow trail of water forming behind them. As they walked, Celestia and Luna looked toward each other, deeply concerned. A janitor pony trotted out and began to magically mop up te floor of the water trail, whistling softly as his red and yellow eyes locked onto the dripping wet hybrid.
As they turned the corner into the infirmary wing, the hybrid was in awe at the amazing tale he had just been told. "I was the one..? I saved everyone? I was that important to... I just... Guess I was wrong before..." He sat on a bed, deep in thought, before he continued, "Well... I guess the memory was damaged, but it's still there... so maybe I eventually will remember it?" As he thought this aloud, the group woke up, and noticed that he and Fluttershy were awake.
The group rushed to the pair, all asking the same questions over each other of 'what happened,' 'are you okay,' and 'what did you see.' After about twenty continuous seconds, his head began to hurt, and he raised both paws outward, shouting "STOP!!!" Everyone suddenly went quiet, a few with ears drooping. He shook his head and sighed, eyes closing, then continued, "Sorry, sorry everyone.. I will explain everything I learned, but please, I need some rest.." He was suddenly interrupted by a growling noise, before his eyes went wide, blushing some as he continued, "..and something to eat too, apparently." Everyone burst into laughter, including the hybrid after a moment, and he sighed. "I'll tell you all on the way to get a meal, sound good?"
The sun was setting in the kingdom, casting a slowly darkening shadow over the town of Ponyville. Fluttershy and her new hybrid friend were walking through town together, as Fluttershy was telling him a story of how she and her friends saved Ponyville for the ump-teenth time. He simply laughed and shook his head in disbelief as she told it.
"Wait, wait, wait... You mean to tell me that you six tried your hardest to stop the Lord of Chaos from making it rain cotton candy, in reverse, on houses turned into chocolate... for the THIRD time... by just ignoring him right to his face?!" Fluttershy simply nodded a little, and the hybrid fell over laughing.
"That is ridiculous!!! Oh that is RICH!!!" He continued to roll around laughing harder and harder, and even Fluttershy began to giggle a little, before a bright yellow glow began to eminate from the hybrid, shining brightly for a moment as it enveloped him in a ball of light. Fluttershy gasped a bit, but this time she stayed by his side, shielding her eyes until the energy dissipated.
When it did, what remained was another new mix of pony and another creature. The brown and white fur had been replaced entirely with bright yellow all down the body, as well as a new third set of legs, all of which bore a shaggy yellow tuft of fur at the ends of all black legs. The third set retained its hooves in black now, but the first two ended in single digit, thin insect-like limbs. And, upon the flank sat a mark of a sun, glowing softly.
The tail, now replaced with a shorter and thinner abdomen, covered in black and yellow rings, and ending in a small black tuft of fur, wiggled every few moments. A new pair of insect like wings sprouted from its back, fluttering quickly and buzzing softly, causing the bright yellow cloak on its back to billow and show off the sun symbol on the back. The head had the most drastic change, now a shorter pony muzzle in yellow, sporting actual pony ears, but with a pair of insect-like antennae inside a short golden hairstyle.
The new creature comtinued to laugh, rolling around a bit before it stood, shaking itself free of dirt, before it spotted Fluttershy in its honey-brown eyes, gasping happily, and trotted up to her. "Hi there! Who are you?~" His voice was higher pitch, almost feminine, and very energetic.
"Oh, hello.. I'm Fluttershy.. and you are..?" It.. He suddenly grabbed one of her hooves in one of his front legs, pulling it up and doing a hoofshake, giggling excitedly.
"Oh I know who you are silly, but I'm Hunny! Neat to meet you!~" He giggled and suddenly gave Fluttershy a four arm bearhug, then gasped and stared up at the starry sky in awe. "Wooow... it's been so long since I've seen stars! They're so prettyyy!~" Fluttershy smiled and watched the sky with him, before his wings began to flutter rapidly, and he took off into the sky, Fluttershy gasping softly and flying after him. Once she caught up, the two flew off together, zigzagging through the sky and between the trees, Fluttershy following him.
As they flew, the yellow on Hunny's body began to glow brightly, leaving streaks of light in the sky. The ponies below had a spectacular sight, many of them gasping and applauding the beautiful light show. Looking back, Fluttershy gasped and smiled seeing the streaks were actually patterned in the shape of the sun. She looked below, seeing all the happy ponies, and noticed Twilight. She nudged Hunny, pointed down, and they both landed quickly, trotting up to a stunned Twilight.
Twilight was still staring at the sky as the light streaks dissipated, mouth agape, not even noticing the two had landed. When she did, she jumped at the sight of the bee hybrid, but stepped forward slowly. "Uh.. Fluttershy.. Who's your new friend?"
Hunny giggled a little, saluted the princess, and rattled off a playful military introduction. "Hunny, High Mage of Light, Land of Duality, sir! Ma'am! Princess!" He giggled and hugged on Twilight tightly, which caused her to squeak a little, but she eventually just hugged him back with one leg. He squeaked happily, giggling as he let go of her after a few moments.
Twilight looked closely at Hunny as she thought about what he said. "Wait.. Land of Duality? That's the same place that Tide talked about with his introduction too..."
"Aww, you met Mister Sadsack before you met me? Hope he didn't bring you guys down too much..." He wiped an imaginary tear from his eye with a cute pout.
Twilight looked confused for a moment. "He also mentioned something about a spell that connected him and several others to a certain hybrid through his emotions. Tide says he was connected through sadness, and it looks like you're connected to.."
Hunny gasped in delight, interrupting Twilight. "You guessed it! I'm connected to his joy!" He suddenly backflipped for no reason, giggling excitedly, as Twilight responded slowly.
"Yeah... Joy... this is all a bit confusing, honestly... I don't even fully understand the magic any of you inside of him use, and there's no telling how many of you are inside his body, and it's all connected by a single spell! It's too complex a level of magic! This doesn't make sense!" Twilight rubbed her forehead with a hoof, causing Hunny's smile to fade, replaced with a look of concern matching Fluttershy's.
Hunny suddenly gasped, and held up a forearm. "Gimme a minute, I have a great idea! There's someone you can talk to who can help you out with all of this~" He suddenly trotted off for a moment and came back, carrying a book. He set it out in front of Twilight and pointed at a particular section before he continued, "Read this out loud, and just watch~"
Twilight and Fluttershy just stared at him, then each other, but they looked down to the book together, and Twilight read a passage from halfway through. "Let's see... Wait, I know this book, it's a classic about beginner's magic. 'Elemental magic is the easiest to use in terms of learning the basics, but in the hooves of an experienced pony, it can be refined and enhanced to shape everything around the user.' Hmm.. Wait.." She paused for a moment. "High Mage of Light.. and of Water.." She gasped. "Elemental mages?!"
Hunny grinned a little, a curiously predatory grin neither of the ponies expected from him, before a wave of magic appeared around him, encasing him in a rippling sphere of bright orange. A sudden playful, yet deep, laugh rang out as the orb burst outward some, revealing yet a new hybrid inside, grinning the same predatory grin.
The pony body this time regained its fur, in the color of orange with black stripes, coating the entire body, including the rear hooves and front paws, aside from the splash of white on the bottom of said paws. The underbelly also held white, running up to the longer feline muzzle's underside, ending with a series of whiskers and a cat-like nose.
His tail was definitely tiger patterned, but of pony tail hair, flicking lightly against his cloak, which now bore a mark of an hourglass. His feline ears flicked lightly, against his tied back black hair, as he spoke his first words. "Yes! Brilliant! You figured it out! The hybrids in this shared body all use magic that controls the very elements around us!" He spoke with a very unusual (British) and excited accent.
Everyone who was watching the sky lights approached the new sight of the tiger-like creature, many gasping in awe and whispering nervously to each other. But he looked around and smiled wider, and jumped over the audience to find a wide open space to draw a crowd. He spoke again, and all listened with full attention.
"Ello 'ello, I'm Sanskrit, High Mage of Time! And I hail from Duality, a beautiful town much like yours, but from a different time!" He suddenly heard alot of awed chatter, and he resumed, "Yes, it's true! And there were many creatures like me! Hybrids as far as the eye could see. In fact, I'd be willing to bet some of Your ancestors knew of our home too!" Fluttershy and Twilight watched in fascination. The unnamed fox hybrid was reserved about being in front of a few ponies, but Sanskrit acted like speaking to half a town was fun! And the two, like that town, were fascinated with the tale he wove in that beautiful accent.
"But, we also had ponies like you, plus gryphons, dragons, and every other kind of creature in the land, and we all lived in peace! Everyone was happy, everyone embraced each other's differences, and everyone cared about each other. Oh, it was a glorious place!" Sanskrit laughed loudly, and Fluttershy giggled a little, as well as a few from the audience. "Because of the diversity of our home, we had everything we could ever need or want, right there! We even had magic! Oh, the magic we had was amazing to watch take place... in fact, the light show my friend Hunny lit your sky with was an example of our light magic some of us possessed! We few that had it were gifted, and we used our special magics to help everyone! We were renouned, revered, and even famous!"
"But, sad to say, there were also dark times as well.." He put on an obviously sad stage face before he continued, "Many others were fearful of us because of our magical prowess, and would attack our wonderful home." Shocked gasps and sad sounds rung out from the audience, before he continued, "Oh yes, it was so sad! Watching our precious home and peoples being hurt over petty fear and jealousy... But! One day, we had had enough! We put in a special plan, to save us all from the fear and prejudice of the world. It was a terrible yet brilliant plan, and it was our last hope. We hid ourselves, secretly blended our peoples in with every other creature known in the land, and lived in peace among our friends we developed over the years!" Several gasped and smiled, applauding the story, but a few ponies spoke out against it.
'If that's true, where are the rest?!' and 'Yeah, shouldn't there be more than one or two of you?!' plus 'Why haven't we heard of this before?!' rang out from the audience, suddenly bringing Twilight and Fluttershy a wave of nervousness. But, Sanskrit simply grinned and shook his head, turning back to the two, and giving them a sly wink, before he continued.
"All good questions! First, there is only a few of us right now because "I," as you see, was lucky enough to be hidden away in a different fashion. A spell was cast to preserve myself, and a few others, within a special, hidden location, so that when the time came, we could tell the story of our people! And the rest are still hidden for the moment, just waiting to show themselves! Brilliant, yes?!" Many became calmed with that, and he continued on with a grin. "We hid their identities, their magic, everything of them within a special magical object, in what I assume to be the remains of our grand town! Lost in the sands of time, but thanks to our King and his apprentice, not quite forgotten!" He let loose a prideful laugh, and everyone applauded yet again.
At this point, the majority of the town was listening in on the tale, and even the mayor had trotted up to point out the town's podium location where he could speak. "Ah yes, thank you. If you wish to hear more, follow me!" He suddenly jumped, and in a blink, was at the new location, a slowly fading orange magic wisp where he once stood. Once everyone had regathered around him, he continued. "Anyways, on that dreadful day we had to hide ourselves, our King was forced to make a sacrifice for our people. The amazing spell that was cast took enormous magic, a terrifying amount..." Several gasped and murmured sadly, before he continued, "But thanks to some quick thinking, the sacrifice was kept to one." He placed a paw against his chest solemnly as he paused, head bowed.
Again, a few people gasped. "Yes, one sacrifice alone, and he gave all of himself to hide us to this day... But! With some extreme tactics and special magics, he is still here with us! Twilight, plus the other princesses, have helped him recover so much and so far, that he can finally stand on his own hooves and paws!" He then gestured toward Twilight with one paw, and everyone applauded and cheered her on. She suddenly smiled and waved back toward the group, walking onstage with Fluttershy at her side. "This princess, as well as Celestia, Luna, and many other ponies in this town, have rekindled our faith in the land and have proven that, if nowhere else, Ponyville is a town we can believe in, as our new friends!!!" Everyone cheered together, and applauded in pure joy. Sanskrit sighed happily, trotting away from the group as Twilight took over the speech, beginning to clarify on everything they had done to help.
As he faced away, Sanskrit sighed softly with a knowing smile, muttering to himself, "Perfect.." He noticed someone in the distance waving to him excitedly, and he smiled, giving them a solemn wink and a wave, before the figure ran off, moving behind the buildings. Meanwhile, Sanskrit's body began to glow a soft orange, before turning a sandy brown, dissolving to reveal the original hybrid's body under a pile of sand. The fox hybrid blinked a few times, then turned around comfused. He heard Twilight and turned around, trotting up to Fluttershy's side again, watching Twilight. Fluttershy turned and smiled toward him, as they both listened to Twilight finish up.
"So, in conclusion, we will do everything we can to bring the hybrid race back to its former glory. But, in the meantime, we hope you can welcome our guests into the town as a new welcome addition to our ever-growing circle of friends!" Everyone applauded Twilight, and many of them noticed the new hybrid, to which he blushed a little. "Now, as Sanskrit stated, there was one hybrid that was regarded as the King of his people, but he doesn't remember anything about it, because of... his sacrifice to his people. Would you like to say anything?" His eyes widened, looking around nervously, as everyone started to applaud for him to say something. It took him by surprise, but he trotted forward slowly, cleared his throat, and tried to speak.
"Uh.. Hello.. Hello everyone! Uh.. I'm not really good at this, but.. It's nice to meet every uh.. everypony? Like you were told, apparently I used to be a king of my people, and sacrificed myself to save my people, but.. Like you were also told, I have no memory of any of it. Now.. what happened to my people was terrible, but I intend to help bring them all back!" Everyone gasped, and several applauded him for his brave endeavor. "But until this kingdom of my past is recreated, I intend to live in the present and work toward a new future! And I hope you will all help me with this! Starting with my new name, uh.." He glanced around a bit, but smiled a little, and proudly declared, "Mystery! My name will be Mystery!" There was a short pause, but everyone slowly started to applaud, and cheered him on, as well as Twilight, while Fluttershy giggled softly.
After the announcement, most of the ponies began to disperse and head home, but a few stayed behind to approach Mystery and ask him a few questions. He stammered a little with a particular pair of mares, but he managed to get through it. Twilight and Fluttershy, meanwhile, sat back and watched him converse. After the last one left, he trotted to them and breathed a sigh of relief. Fluttershy smiled. "So... Long night, huh?"
"Yeah, to say the least. I don't even know what fully happened, but I feel... good, really good." He smiled and sat down before the two.
Twilight responded, "Good! And, not to detract from the good times, but something's been bothering me though... You shifted twice in a row, once into Hunny from joy, that's obvious. But when you changed again into Sanskrit, he seemed to... make it happen, I think, which tells me he had knowledge Tide didn't. Also, what triggered it?" Twilight looked to Mystery confused, before she continued, "I'm still trying to figure that one out, because I saw no triggers of emotion... It was just when I read the book about elemental magic."
Fluttershy thought about it this time. "I think it was Wisdom.. He came out because he was the one who was smart, wise, and factual.. something that was needed at that moment... I think Hunny knew more about the way the spell worked, maybe..."
Twilight stared at Fluttershy, clearly confused. "I don't think Wisdom is an emotion."
Mystery stepped up this time. "But.. it's something one can be emotional about, just like you, right?" Twilight actually paused to think about that one for a few moments before Mystery continued, "Maybe it's not just emotion, but an emotional context."
"Well... I suppose that makes sense. And if that Is the case, then I'm curious to where this emotional trip takes us next," Twilight responded with a smile, and yawned a little. "But for now... I say we all go get some sleep." Fluttershy and Mystery nodded, but Mystery sighed a little.
"Yeah, definitely. I have a long walk ahead of me, so I'll see you later." He turned and started to leave, but Fluttershy spoke up in a light panic.
"Uh.. you know.. you don't have to go back to your place.. you could stay here with us, at... my place..?" She blushed deeply, and Twilight stared at her in shock as she continued. "You... could sleep in my bed, and I'll take the couch..?" Mystery turned and thought about it for a moment.
"Hmm... Okay, I can get behind staying at your place, but YOU take the bed, and I will take the couch. Maybe it's something of my old self, but I couldn't bare to see a mare sleeping on a couch when I have a bed." Fluttershy giggled and nodded a little, blushing softly.
Fluttershy brought Mystery a pillow and blanket, and he took them in his paws, placing and immediately flopping into them happily, sighing deeply. "What a day. And you all handled it so well... I'm guessing by your stories, this is more or less a weekly thing for you all?"
Fluttershy nodded a little, giggling softly, before she responded, "Yes.. we had to get used to it, and fairly quick."
"Heh.. well hopefully I won't cause too much more of it. Goodnight, Fluttershy. And... thanks."
"Goodnight, Mystery." Fluttershy smiled a little and trotted off, blushing a bit. Mystery curled up on the couch, nuzzling into his pillow as he finally relaxed. Just as he was drifting off to sleep, Angel popped up in front of him, clearly still irritated. Mystery stared at him for a moment with concern, before Angel jumped up and sat atop his hair, curling up and using his head as a pillow. Mystery smiled, and fell asleep with the sleeping Angel on his head.
Mystery and Fluttershy trotted into town, several ponies waving at them both as they passed, and the two waving back. A few weeks had passed, and while it was slow, he was welcomed and quickly made friends with everyone. To this point, no other of the hidden hybrids had surfaced, so things had been... relatively quiet. They met up with Applejack and Rarity at the cafe, enjoying a quiet breakfast together, and Mystery couldn't have been happier. Applejack started the conversation this time.
"Hey you two, humdinger of a storm last night. How'd ya both sleep?"
"Oh, we slept fine.. well, I woke up a few times.. lightning and all.. But Mystery slept well, I think."
"Mhm, really well. Even with that storm, the couch is better than that hay bale back at my old place ever was." He stretched some, popping his back a few times with a happy sigh, as Rarity gasped.
"You... slept... on a Hay Bale?! NoNoNo, that will never do! I insist you show us your home so we can properly decor, furnish, and style it for you!" Mystery just stared at her confused, before Applejack chimed in.
"Y'know, I'm not normally one fer fashion or nothin', but even I agree with Rarity on this'un. Ya gotta have a real bed, an' things to make it feel like a home." Mystery scratched the back of his head a little.
"Well hang on a sec, I'm staying with Fluttershy right now. Why spruce up a place that's not being used right now?"
Fluttershy blushed a bit and smiled, glancing away from him a little nervously before she replied, "That is true... but if your own place was in better shape, it could be more reason to... have guests over yourself?"
"And normally I would agree with you on that one," Mystery rebutted, "But it's literally a stone shack. There's nothing TO spruce up. I have room to lie down, stand up, and keep myself out of the rain." The three stared at him in shock, and he decided after a moment to give them some leeway on this one. "Buuut... if you really want to try and help, then... okay, let's go there today, and you're more than welcome to try and do... something, I guess?"
"Wonderful! I'll get some of my supplies, and Applejack can retrieve some furniture and raw materials. And if this is really as small as you say it is, da'ling, you may want to think about simply relocating." Mystery shrugged a little, and Rarity and Applejack trotted off to prepare. Fluttershy smiled at Mystery, and he just sighed at her.
"Fluttershy... what did I just agree to?"
Walking along the dirt path, Mystery led the way with Fluttershy and Rarity at his sides, Applejack bringing up the rear with a cart full of furniture, fabric, large pieces of wood, tools, ropes, picnic foods, and other supplies. Mystery looked back and asked, "Applejack, are you sure you don't need any help?"
Applejack just smiled and snorted softly. "Shucks naw, I handle more'n this in apples at th' farm. I'm fine!"
Mystery smiled and nodded, then stopped and pointed off the road, to somewhere in the distance. "That way. It's a bit of a walk, but it's over there." Everyone trotted off the path together and headed toward the indicated direction, heading toward a small mountain. They walked over several hills, small valleys, and muddy pathways, Rarity making sure to use waterproof tarps on the ground to make the walk cleaner and easier with the cart. After an extra half hour of walking, they finally approached a small stone box built into the mountainside, roughly six by six and eight feet tall, with a muddy bale of hay in the center and a few buckets of food scraps. On the ground was a long slab of the same stone, lying broken in large fragments.
Mystery just looked back toward the other three, all staring at the box in confusion as to how he could even consider this a living space. He simply shrugged and stated, "Told you it wasn't big."
Rarity blatantly stated, "Da'ling, it's barely a closet space! How did you survive... however long, by yourself in THIS?" He sighed a little and turned back, pawing at his hay bale.
"This is where I woke up, honestly. I just slept here, left to get food, and started going out farther and farther as the closest trees ran out. After that, I found Fluttershy's place and a bucket of fruits and veggies, and just... feasted."
"Well... let's at least get this place cleaned and with a proper bed." Rarity magically grabbed as much of the pile of muck and moved it out of the space, before her eyes went wide and she gasped. Out of the hay bale she lifted a transparent amber-orange gem, glittering in the sunlight.
"Oh my goodness, this is just gorgeous! Where ever did you find this?!"
"Huh? Oh that? It was in the bale when I woke up."
Rarity just stared at him, then looked toward the mountain box curiously. "Well it is beautiful, and... wait... I can't tell for sure, but I think there are more of these gems nearby... Behind this box I think? In the mountain?"
Applejack just shook her head. "Rarity, is this really th' time?"
"No, I mean think there is a very, Very large amount..." She placed the gem in her saddlebag before she continued, "Applejack, could you hit this wall? I think it's behind this..." Applejack sighed a little, leaned into listen, reared up her front hoof, and hit the wall. To her surprise, something sounded strange.
"Rarity, I think yer onto sumthin'.. This sounds hollow behind it.. Hang on, lemme see if I can..." The other three stepped back as Applejack reared her hind legs and kicked straight through the stone back wall, knocking it open. It was completely empty behind it, revealing a dark cavern, impossible to see inside.
But, a rumbling suddenly rang out above Applejack as the rocks above crumbled, a small rockslide suddenly falling down. Rarity gasped as she managed to magically grab Applejack and pull her away, but she was a little too late. Some of the rocks managed to fall on Applejack's rear legs, and she shouted out in sudden pain.
Fluttershy and Mystery worked with Rarity to move the rocks and pull Applejack out, but the damage had been done. Both of her legs were severely bruised and in severe pain. Applejack groaned deeply, unable to move, the other three staring in deep concern. But, before anyone could say anything, a purple glow suddenly eminated from Mystery, enveloping him in another orb of magical energy. Rarity watched in awe, and simply whispered, "Beautiful..."
The purple sphere had a soft shine, but of a warm purple, and dissipated gently, leaving behind yet another new hybrid. This one was a bit more unusual, replacing the copper with light purple and white with pink. The tail was suddenly a large cottonball of pink fluff, matching the pink butterfly on the purple cloak he bore. The rear hooves and front paws remained, but were encased entirely in a light purple.
The head lifted and revealed a set of deep violet eyes against an elongated bunny muzzle, a pair of purple floppy ears with pink inside flopping to the sides against a short light-purple hairstyle. The new bunny hybrid trotted forward, removing Applejack's hat, and gently placed a paw on the top of her head.
Rarity tried to speak, but the bunny simply placed his other paw against her lips and gently shushed her, before turning back to Applejack, and closed his eyes. Focusing, a purple shine suddenly eminated from his paw, coating Applejack from head to hoof, glimmering and sparkling. In a matter of moments, Applejack's bruises on her legs began to fade away to nothing. As they did, Applejack slowly sat up and looked down at her legs.
"Huh.. wha..? Hey, my legs ain't hurtin' no more!" Applejack slowly stood and tested out her legs, kicking the air with wild abandon. "In fact, they ain't never felt better! Thanks, uh.. who are ya, exactly?"
The bunny hybrid smiled and, in a warm and caring tone, replied, "I am Taffy, High Mage of Life Magic. A pleasure to meet you three." He placed Applejack's hat back on her head, and trotted toward the open hole, staring at the dark space inside. "So we finally came home.. feels like an eternity since I last saw Duality, honestly."
Rarity trotted up to Taffy, smiling. "So this is your home afterall? When we found it, it was boarded up at, what I assume used to be, that doorway, where your King apparently used to sleep. Terrible living accomodations I must say, but I'm sure you had your reasons."
"Our king, you say? He survived too? Hm.." Taffy walked toward the rubble pile, pawing at some of the rocks. "There was much I wasn't told, it seems.. but nonetheless, thank you for caring for him. How long has it been since we came home, I wonder.. days, weeks maybe?"
The three ponies looked to each other, then to Taffy, before Fluttershy responded, "Um.. I think it's been a bit longer.."
Taffy sighed a little. "Yes.. I can see that now.. the wear and age of these rocks.. it's been many, many years since we were home." He turned to the three and smiled a little. "Would you like to see our home?"
Rarity trotted up with a confused look. "That's why we came here, of course, but it's impossible to do anything with this.. It's far too dark to see our own hooves in front of our faces!"
Taffy just chuckled softly, eyes half lidded. "We knew how to fool the tourists. Come, let me show you our world." He climbed his way over the rocks slowly, and walked inside the mountainous cavern. After exchanging looks again, the three followed Taffy into the darkness, leaving behind the cart.
As the four trotted forward into the cavern, Taffy simply hummed a soft tune to himself. Fluttershy, getting more nervous by the moment at all the darkness, trotted closer to Taffy. "So .. I assume you know of the.. body possession spell, yes? And the connections that tether you?"
"Oh yes, I definitely do."
Fluttershy continued, "Then could you tell us.. which emotion are you bound to? Tide was sad, Hunny was happy, Sanskrit was wisdom I think.."
"So you pieced that together fairly quickly, hm? Well you were on the right track. We weren't tied by an emotion per se, but rather our strongest personality quirk, what we were best known for. Tide was always quick to cry, Hunny was always a bundle of joy, and Sanskrit had to know everything, but I've always upheld a high concern for others over myself. It led me to take up my career as a High Mage of Life Magic. Certainly useful, wouldn't you agree, uh.. Applejack?" Applejack nodded, but the cavern quickly became too dark for anyone to see. "Let's see... Rarity, right? Would you be so kind as to shine a little light straight up for us?"
"I thought you'd never ask, da'ling!" Unseen from anyone else, Rarity looked straight up and shined her light toward the ceiling, and that light reflected off of thousands upon thousands of smaller, multicolored crystals, and began to light up the entire cavern in shimmering colors. As everyone stared in awe at the cavern ceiling, they eventually looked downward to see an even more amazing sight.
Beneath the shimmering rainbows of the crystals were hundreds of buildings, all crafted of aged wood and stone, as well as pieces of gems everywhere. "Beautiful, isn't it? We used these rare crystals in everything we did, from building, to communication, to even lighting. If you needed something done, these crystals and a little magic would do the job. Our King saw to that."
"Well that there's some beautiful lights an' all, but how'd ya'll get the lights to stay on in the first place? You say it took some magic to get the crystals to do things, right? Who, or what, gave them the magic?" Taffy smiled toward Applejack gently, before he walked toward a deeper part of the cavern town, and the rest followed.
"Our land had one large magical artifact right in the center, a special crystal called a lacrima. While not infinite, its own magic was substantial, and its light shined brightly, fueling our daily needs." Rarity suddenly remembered from a prior conversation.
"Wait, a lacrima... I recall a lacrima being used to hide all the hybrids and their magic... Would it happen to be the same?" Taffy nodded, and Rarity continued, "And this same lacrima was used as a fuel source for your entire home? It's THAT powerful?!"
"Exactly. All of these crystals enabled us to let everyone use magic, whether you had any natural magic or not." Taffy smiled at Rarity, watching her gush.
"What a wonderful concept! We simply must let Twilight know of this too! She would be ecstatic to learn of this!" Rarity picked up a few of these crystals on the ground for Twilight, putting them into a saddlebag for later.
Taffy raised a paw, palm up, and waved it from right to left as they reached their destination: the center of the town, where Rarity's light reflected off several buildings, all surrounding a pillar in the center, where upon the top sat a large stone sphere. "That sphere on the top is our town's treasure, the lacrima that gave us all our power and light."
All three stared at the orb, but Fluttershy was the first to speak up. "Um.. You said it was a crystal.. but why is it a.. well.. a rock..?"
Taffy laughed softly before he responded, "That, my friends, is a powerful protection and camouflage spell, encasing it in thick magic-resistant stone, just like the crate outside the doorway. Undetectable and insulated, so no magic can get into it, or escape from it. I can only assume that when you found it, the stone crate was worn through time, and weakened."
"So if we're able t' break through that there stone, like I did with th' crate outside, it'll light up the town an' ev'rythin'll be workin' again?"
"In theory, yes.. The lacrima is nearly unbreakable, so you should be able to break the stone without damaging it, but we made sure it would not break easily." Taffy sighed a little and bowed his head. "Well.. it was nice meeting you.. please, stay as long as you like. As far as I'm concerned, you and your friends are always welcome." Suddenly his body was glowing once again, the purple and pink lifting in colorful particles to the ceiling before they dissipated in the air, revealing Mystery underneath again.
He raised his head again and looked around, eyes widening at the town. "So... clearly I missed a lot this time around... care to fill me in?"
Fluttershy smiled and trotted up beside him. "We'll explain it on the way back to Twilight's, okay?" He smiled a little and nodded, and all three headed out of the town together. He suddenly paused and glanced back toward the town, thinking he noticed something.
"Mystery? Is everything okay?" Rarity trotted up, looking around with him.
"Yeah... I feel like I saw something, but... I guess I'm just seeing things. Sorry." Rarity nodded, but glanced down to see a glowing in his cloak suddenly fade away as they moved away from the town center, shaking her head a little.
"I think I am too..." They both trotted off, paying it no further mind. As they left, a figure walked out from behind a two story building at the center of town, breathing a sigh of relief. The figure, covered in a dingy cloak and lit by a dim orange crystal hanging around its neck, looked up to the house it was hiding behind, watching the group leave. "Everything is going perfectly.. just a little longer, and you will awaken, my King.."
Twilight was hard at work looking at the crystal samples Rarity brought her, submitting them to chemical tests and trying to find something about it in the books she had. "This is amazing.. these crystals are durable like gemstones, but the transparency suggests they are much more pure. And you say they can hold magic and be used for almost any purpose?"
"That's what Taffy said, and I have yet to find a reason to doubt any of the hybrids so far," Rarity replied, looking over one herself. "He said that, when given some magic, it could be used for multiple purposes. Light, construction, communication..."
"Communication? You mean... directly talking to each other over a distance? That's a level of magic that hasn't been mastered yet... Hang on..." Twilight picked up a red crystal cast a small spell on it curiously, one that would simply change an object's colors. The crystal did not change, but instead seemed to absorb the magic and contained it within itself, glowing softly.
"Well... they definitely absorb magic and contain it. So, if my theory is right, I could simply..." She pointed the crystal toward a chair, but nothing happened for several moments. She shook the crystal a few times, expecting it to do something, but nothing happened still. She trotted toward the chair and touched the two together, and a light shined from the sharp point of the crystal against the chair. The chair suddenly changed into a rainbow shine, and the crystal went dark again. Twilight gasped.
"That's it! This crystal is able to hold magic and redirect it on contact!" Twilight laughed happily, thrilled to death. "This means everything you were told was true! These crystals can do almost anything!" She laughed excitedly and opened a blank book, writing down her new discovery rapidly, even drawing a detailed descriptive image of the crystal itself.
"Depending on what spell it contains, it could definitely be used for virtually any purpose... and you say the whole town is inside a cavern filled with these?"
"Da'ling, it was a spectacle to be seen! I've already been designing new dresses based on that gorgeous sight alone!" Rarity sighed happily as she thought of the beauty of those completed dresses.
"So they already have a high supply to boot... and being hidden inside of the mountain means they can keep them internally... Oh there is so much to learn! I have to see it now!" Twilight suddenly began magically gathering papers, empty books, and multiple pens together into a saddlebag, lying it by the door.
"Well if we are going back now, then we will need help. Bring plenty of lights too, that cavern is dark as can be! I'll let Rainbow Dash and Pinky Pie know too." As Rarity trotted off, Twilight began thinking about what they may need. Meanwhile, Rarity walked into the next room, where Mystery and Fluttershy were sitting next to each other, reading some of Spike's comics with him, all three laughing softly.
"Well..." the three turned to Rarity as she spoke, "Not to interrupt the fun, but Twilight has decided she simply must see the cavern today. Do you feel up to the task?" Mystery smiled, but looked out the window, seeing it was starting to get late, and thought it over for a moment.
"Hm.. to be honest, it's so late now that I don't think we can make the huge trudge back in the dark." He paused when he saw Twilight running back and forth frantically, and sighed a little, before continuing, "But if she wants to try and do this at night... then... alright, I'm willing to try."
Rarity squealed happily and turned back to Twilight, before politely shouting, "Twilight?! He said he's willing to go back tonight!" Twilight suddenly cheered out and moved twice as fast, gathering her supplies together, as Rarity continued, "I'll let the others know, and we'll be ready in a half hour." She trotted out of the room toward the front door, and Mystery sighed a little.
"Dang... I just wanted to rest, but I can't seem to say no to anyone today, can I?"
Fluttershy smiled. "I know how you feel... but I think it's a good quality in a friend." She giggled, and Mystery just smiled a little at her, closing up the comic.
Mystery, Rarity, and Fluttershy walked into the cavern first, Rarity lighting up her horn once more. Twilight and Rainbow Dash followed, quickly flying higher into the caverns to take a closer look. Applejack, Zecora, and Pinky Pie brought up the rear, staying close to the light Rarity was producing, in awe at the beautiful cavern once more. Twilight swooped up to the cavern ceiling, examining some of the hanging crystals.
Rainbow Dash was flying all about and looking at the old buildings as they walked past them. "Okay, this is cool and all, but why are we here exactly?" Everyone turned toward her, and she groaned in frustration. "Ugh.. no, I mean, I know we're all here to help get this place running again, but I mean, why are WE specifically here? I mean, I dunno anything about this crystal nonsense."
Fluttershy took off flying up to Rainbow Dash. "The last time we were here, there was a large stone sphere in the center of this town.. We may need you to help us lift it off the pedestal so Zecora and Twilight can look at it."
"Ohh.. I'm good then." Rainbow Dash smiled and took off, swooping back to the ground. "Hey, anyone have a spare light? I wanna look around, see what the flight paths are like here, maybe find something cool." Rarity took out a small lantern, turned it on, and leviated it to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash hooked it onto her saddlebag's clip and took off, her light shining and signaling everyone to where she was. Meanwhile, Zecora looked around at the buildings curiously.
"Hmm... first we see a hybrid alive and well, but having no memories or tales to tell... Now we find his home, and to our surprise, it was perfectly hidden and with crystals for skies... this is all beautiful, quite a sight to behold. But I wish to know the stories that have yet to be told." She grabbed a lantern of her own and started exploring some of the buildings nearby.
"Ooh, I wonder where the party store was around here?!" Pinky Pie quickly sped by Rarity, grabbing a lantern of her own, grinning wildly, everyone just staring at her. "What? He doesn't know, so I'm gonna find out!" She hopped off smiling, and Applejack just rolled her eyes a little, trailing her closely.
Rarity suddenly thought to herself. "Well I don't know about that, but I think there would be a boutique or dress store maybe. I'm curious as to how they dressed themselves up for their celebrations." She looked back at Mystery, who just gave an 'I dunno' shrug. She trotted through the town's buildings, shining her light over the various stores as Mystery followed.
Fluttershy landed again and walked alongside Mystery, looking around at the various homes. Strangely enough, they were all fairly plain on the outside, and almost all the same. Fluttershy thought aloud, "How does everyone know where they live..? All the houses look alike.."
Rarity looked back and replied, "I was thinking the same thing.. there Must be something here to.. identify.. them..?" As she spoke, she noticed the pocket on Mystery's cloak was glowing softly. Mystery looked down, noticing the same. He reached in and pulled out the shards of his broken badge, the amber orange in the center glowing softly. Rarity turned back and noticed the glowing, thinking out loud, "Wait, I thought I saw it doing that the last time we were here... it's never done that outside of this cave, has it?"
Mystery shook his head a little, and thought for a moment. "Wait... Rarity, remember when we thought we were seeing things last time we were here? Maybe it was this?" He moved his paw left and right, watching the glow brighten and darken as it moved.
Rarity suddenly exclaimed, "That's it! The badge is stylish AND functional! I'm betting it holds a location spell, even in its fragments!" Mystery and Fluttershy both smiled, and started walking around the town with Rarity, using the badge as a compass.
Twilight smiled and sighed happily, writing down in a levitating book about the descriptions of the crystals on the ceiling and the reactions they had to her magic. "All the crystals are the same physically, but each has a different color, and they all have the same reaction to all types of magic I expose it to.. With some work, they could--" She paused, realizing the dark cavern and trails of lights moving about, some fast and some slow.
She closed and put her book away, swooping down to the light that was moving the fastest, thinking someone was chasing something. She landed beside an irritated Applejack watching a frantic Pinky Pie, freaking out and running in whatever direction she could find. "No, No, No!! No party store, no candy store, no cake store, no... anything!!! Everything is the same!!!" Applejack just sat back and watched all the while, waiting for her to finish her outburst. Pinky Pie freaked out and suddenly slammed into Twilight, both of them flopping over. As they both stood, rubbing their heads and groaning, Pinky Pie apologized. "Sorry Twilight, but.. How does a huuuge town like this get by without anything even remotely party themed? Don't they celebrate anything?!"
Twilight groaned, rubbing her head. "I'm sure they do, Pinky, but maybe it's just somewhere you haven't explored yet. Let's regroup with everyone else, maybe they found something." Concerned, Pinky Pie nodded a little and followed Twilight and Applejack, looking for the next closest light source. But they were suddenly interrupted by shouts of happiness and excitement from above, noticing a light fluttering rapidly through the ceiling's low hanging crystals.
Rainbow Dash was having the time of her life, flying almost blindly through the hanging crystals, blazing through last minute turns and twists as the path lit itself up right in front of her as she flew. She was ecstatic about this new game she may have accidentally created for herself, and as she finished her run, she hooted and shouted like she had just won a race in the skies. She suddenly stopped when a light from below began blinking toward her, and she sped down to the ground to land in front of Twilight, Applejack, & Pinky Pie. "You guys see that?! It's practically a maze up there! And flying in the almost dark makes it so cool! It's like a Blind Run! Hey... I think I just made a new sport!" She laughed proudly, and Applejack trotted forward.
"That's great an' all, Rainbow Dash, but.. didja see anythin' or anypony nearby?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing special, just alot of rooftops and crystals. I did see two other lights walking around farther in." Rainbow Dash pointed in a different direction, and everyone looked toward an open pathway they hadn't noticed in the dark. "C'mon, let's find the others!" Everyone began to gallop in the pointed direction, seeing a light shine ahead of them.
Zecora had watched the patterns on the buildings and in the crystals on the ground, as well as worn patterns in the ground from various hooves, paws, claws, and feet. After several minutes of following dirt trails, she suddenly came to an open part of the center of the town, and came face to face with the same pillar and stone sphere the other ponies had mentioned. "So this is the lacrima of which they spoke... it certainly is large, that is no joke." She suddenly heard hoofprints, turning to see Mystery, Fluttershy, and Rarity trot out from behind a building, a glowing object in Mystery's paw. She approached them, smiling. "Funny how we all meet again right now... And you ended up here of all places.. how?"
Mystery showed her his broken badge. "This thing lit up to show us the way. Didn't notice it when we were here last time." All four suddenly turned toward a strange golden glow, eminating from a two-story building's doorway. "And I think I found what it was aiming at.." He trotted toward the building, stopping at the doorway and seeing a small circular hole in the stone door.
Fluttershy walked up beside him, staring at it. "Do you think that badge went in there..?" He stared at it for a moment, before Rarity levitated the pieces into a whole shape, pushing them into the circular hole. The door suddenly flashed once, before it slowly slid to the side, completely dark inside. The group turned around hearing loud galloping approaching, the remaining ponies of Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinky Pie skidding to a stop behind them.
Twilight approached the doorway curiously, glancing around a bit, but explaimed, "It's no good, it's pitch black!" Twilight charged her horn and shined a bit of light inside, and the walls inside suddenly began to glow in return just as brightly, lighting the room enough to see. Twilight trotted in slowly, Mystery glancing around cautiously as he followed her in, the rest standing outside for the moment. Twilight moved her horn's light around slowly, lighting up various parts of the walls. As she passed what looked like a fireplace, her light reflected off a large red and yellow fire-shaped crystal inside it, and the entire room seemed to brighten for a brief moment.
Mystery caught this, tapping Twilight on the shoulder quickly. "Twilight, wait a sec.. could you put your light back on that fireplace?" Twilight moved back and aimed it right at the fireplace this time, and not only that room, but the next rooms over seemed to light as well. "Hmm... Twilight, I have a theory to test. Can you cast a powerful spell into that fireplace?" Twlight smiled and charged a fairly strong spell, discharging it into the fireplace crystal with a bright flash, and that crystal began to glow and shine so brightly the room was lit by that alone. Everyone outside gasped and rushed in together, but they immediately gasped at the sight in the home.
Inside was a well furnished and spacious home, glistening with colors as the crystals embedded in the walls reflected off the red and orange glowing crystal in the fireplace. A large pair of couches and pair of chairs surrounded a pair of tables, easily seating ten. Everyone exclaimed in wonder at the sheer size. The awed ponies walked about curiously into the other rooms, noticing each room's walls glowed different colors. The giant living room was orange, the massive kitchen was blue, the hallways & staircase were red, and the bathroom was white. Going upstairs, Mystery saw there were several bedrooms, each lit up in green, yellow, purple, and gold respectively, the gold one being the largest.
Mystery trotted into the golden room, looking at the luxurious king sized bed, dark furniture sets of stone and wood, and large windows with a view of the town and the stone orb in the center. He glanced and saw a picture frame on the table, picking it up and cleaning it off with his paws. It was a hand engraved portrait of himself with somewhat longer hair, showing off his badge more clearly. He placed it back down, and saw there were more badges with the unusual symbol on it matching his. He glanced around curiously, taking everything in around him in this room, and grabbed one of the un-broken badges.
Everyone gathered in the living room and sat on the couches and chairs together, too stunned to do much else than exchange comments of beauty. Pinky Pie bounced around giggling happily, loving all the pretty lights the walls shined of. Mystery descended down the stairs slowly, the new badge of what he assumed to be his symbol, the amber dragon eye, pinned to the front of the cloak. "So... I'm thinking this was actually my home... given the circumstances... And I guess if I really was a king, what with the size and all, the size would just... come with the title?" Mystery glanced about slowly as he spoke, not sure if he believed what he was saying.
As he sat down in an open chair, staring into space, Fluttershy stood and trotted to his side, noticing his new badge absently. "Oh wow, that's what the symbol looks like... I guess you didn't want it on your cloak like the rest maybe?" Mystery didn't answer, instead glancing at his badge blankly, deep in thought. Fluttershy leaned in a little. "Hey.. are you okay..?"
Mystery spoke slowly at first, "I... I had a life... a good life here, by the looks of it... There were four bedrooms upstairs, so maybe I had a family? And this size... Maybe I was loaded with friends too... Was I generous, and have friends over alot? Did I host alot of parties here maybe?" Pinky Pie gasped and giggled excitedly, hopping about to look around at the possible party dimensions, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief that she was satisfied for the moment. Mystery continued, "Seriously though, I had a great life, possibly a family and friends... But, I-I sacrificed it all... It was to save our race, but still, was I really so willing to risk losing it all? And why? Because I was king? Was I that selfless??" He groaned and scratched his head with both paws, trying to make sense of the situation.
He flopped into the chair, frustrated and depressed. "I.. I need some time to myself.. please.." Several of the mares nodded to each other, and all quietly stood to walk out the door, except Fluttershy. Concerned, she decided to stay behind and watch over him. Everyone else walked out, and silently Twilight pointed to the sphere. The group surrounded the pillar, staring up at the orb curiously.
Twilight started, "Alright, Rainbow Dash, you're with me. Let's try to lift it." Nodding, Rainbow Dash flew up to the orb and each placed their hooves against a different side of the orb, pushing up with all their might. Sadly, it did not move an inch.
"It's.. Not.. Moving.. Twilight..!!" Rainbow Dash let go of the stone, sighing deeply. "What is up with this thing?!"
Twilight flew to the other side. "It's crystal encased in non-magic stone. It's bound to be heavy. Even with Fluttershy's help, I doubt we could lift it. And I can't cast a spell to levitate it either." Twilight thought for a moment, when Applejack shouted up to her.
"Hey! Twilight! Let me give 'er a whack! Maybe I can knock it off its high horse!" Twilight levitated Applejack up by giving her magical footing, until she was in position, She reared and kicked the orb with all her might, resulting in an echoing thud to ring out, but still not an ounce of movement.
Zecora suddenly stepped forward. "Twilight, may I have a look too? I may figure something out for you." Twilight nodded and let Applejack down, letting Zecora on the magical surface, levitating her to the sphere. She walked around it slowly, noticing any and every detail about it out of the ordinary. Zecora suddenly leaned in a little at the base of the sphere where it met the pillar, and gasped softly, stepping back. "The sphere is not the only detail. The pillar is also the reason we fail."
"What do you mean, Zecora?" Twilight lowered herself and Zecora to the ground.
"This pillar has told me what I must know. The engravings under the orb told me so. Any creature of magic cannot move the sphere, for it's immune to any magic near, that's used by a being with whom it defines. For example, those whom have its marks on their hinds. They predicted our attempts all too well, for it negates all magic, be it pony or spell."
Twilight looked to the pillar again. "So... the sphere is coated in rock that is resistant to spells.. and the pillar itself weakens magic from anyone close to it? Then it's not that we're not strong enough, it's that the pillar weakened our strength in our wings, and Applejack's kicks too?" She tried to think of another option, but was drawing blank after blank.
Applejack sighed and tapped Twilight's shoulder softly, shaking her head. "Twilight, face facts... we can't move this.."
"Yes we can!" Everyone turned to see Mystery, with a look of ferocious determination, Fluttershy and Pinky Pie both smiling on either side of him. Everyone gasped and smiled suddenly seeing him come out.
"Mystery, yer okay?" Applejack asked, and he nodded, slowly trotting forward.
"Sorry about the delay. I thought over what happened, and I realized that, king or no, self sacrifice is something I would've done. I don't need my memories to know that, it would have just been a part of ME. And while I watched you guys work, I realized something else. I was the ome who more than likely set this up, and made it more difficult to separate on purpose. But, it's not impossible! I have an idea that just might work." Everyone gathered around Mystery to listen to him speak.
"There is a loophole to this bind. Ponies who get near it lose their magic, so you can't lift it directly or cast a spell on it. But... what about lifting it from a distance? We could use ropes, make a type of net, and have our three flyers lift it together!" Everyone gasped and smiled, applauding the idea, before Applejack stepped in.
"Then I'll go retrieve m' ropes from m' farm." Mystery grinned a little before he replied.
"No need. You brought ropes with you with when you planned on remodeling the crate I used to call my bedroom, remember?" Applejack gasped and smiled, suddenly rearing and cheering.
"YEE-HAW! Now yer bein' smart! I plum forgot!"
"Twilight, you and Applejack grab the ropes real quick, and the planks of wood too. We'll use them like levers to give you some extra support from the base of the sphere." Mystery pointed in the direction of the exit. The two took off quickly, and he turned back to the group. "The rest of us need to find something tall and solid. Other pillars, crates, anything will do. Bring them here and stack them high as you can, as close to the top of that pillar as possible. Let's do this!"
The ropes were tied into a small net around the base of the sphere, the rope ends tied to Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. Applejack, Zecora, Rarity, and Pinky Pie stood on the center of boards acting like levers beside the sphere, all four on towers of crates and smaller pillars. Mystery smiled and nodded from the top of his own home building, eyeing the setup. "This is gonna work. This will definitely work. Alright, everyone, now!" As he said that, the three flying pulled hard on the ropes, tugging straight up. Meanwhile, the four on boards simply walked to the far ends, hoping the pivot points held. The boards creaked, and a few specks of dust fell from the orb, but no movement was noticed just yet. Mystery watched closely, eyes widening. "Come on... Come on, work..!"
Just as he muttered those words, the four on boards moved out a bit more, Pinky Pie beginning to bounce softly on her board, and he watched with a gasp as the orb finally showed faint movement, smiling wider. "Wait, Pinky Pie, that's what we need! Everyone, be very careful, but start bouncing on the end of those boards a little, in rhythm!" The other three realized what he meant, and gently began to rock, watching the sphere begin to faintly move more, the boards' beginning to slide slightly under the edge of the sphere. "Yes! That's it! Just a little more! We need a little more!" Before he realized it, a new swirling orb of energy encompassed him, this one a deep brown.
The three in the sky groaned loudly as they gave it all they had, the four on boards rocking and gasping as the orb finally started to move about. Rarity glanced over toward Mystery to tell him it was definitely working, but paused when she spotted the brown sphere. Before she could say anything more, a loud crack was heard, followed by a snap, and a scream as Rarity's board broke. She suddenly plummeted to the ground, but before she hit the ground, she was suddenly caught in something soft and warm. She was placed gently on the ground, looking up to see a smiling face, but an unusual one she did not recognize. The face was slightly obscured by a slanted hairstyle, but the large ears and flat nose clearly displayed something of a bat with this pony, the soft brown eyes offsetting the light brown fur across his... her face, and puffing out across her chest.
The rest of her body was covered in a slightly lighter colored and shorter brown, her front paws were elongated and thinner, ending in longer digits with curved nails, the rear hooves remaining but thinned as well. The tail had also become the slightly deeper brown, shortened slightly, matching the color of the brown cloak she bore and the giant bat wings that poked out from under it. Her cloak bore a green leaf, glowing lightly. As Rarity stood fully, she stared at the creature in awe, as the bat hybrid spoke in a soft, melodic voice, "Are you alright?" Rarity nodded, still in awe at the creature's appearance, before she continued, "Good. Now... it looks like you could use a little help..." She raised a clawed paw, and a plant limb slowly grew from the dirt between the stones in the ground, wrapping around a new plank from nearby. With a flick of her finger, the plant threw it into the broken board, dislodging it and replacing it entirely.
Rarity shook her head a little and trotted closer, and thought for a moment, before she finally spoke. "I'd like to take an educated guess and say... High Mage of Earth Magic?" The bat hybrid nodded a little, and turned toward Rarity.
"Correct. I am Rose, and it's nice to meet you. But, the introductions may need to wait. You need a fourth flyer." With a powerful thrust of her wings, she sudddenly grabbed Rarity, then a handful of rope from nearby, and placed her on the replaced plank. She swooped away, used one paw to grab the edge of the pillar under the orb tightly, the other paw looping her rope through the net quickly, and jumping off. Landing, Rose grabbed both ends of the rope tightly in both paws, quickly taking off straight up to the other in-flight ponies. "Alright, everyone, pull... Now!" All three looked at each other only for a moment, but pulled up together, as Rarity also walked out onto the plank, lightly bouncing on it along with the other three on ther boards.
Everyone heard a soft rumbling as the rock was finally moving in a more obvious way, slowly lifting off the pillar, inch by inch. Finally, it had lifted enough to be completely separated, hanging in midair by the ropes and propped on the planks. The flyers slowly moved the sphere to the side, lowering it to the ground carefully, a soft thud as it settled into the ground. Everyone on the planks had already hopped down carefully, and trotted around the sphere, cheering happily as the flyers descended to the ground. As Rose approached the group, everyone stared in awe of her, and she smiled in response. "Okay... Now, for introductions."
"I'm pretty sure you heard me, but I'm Rose, High Mage of Earth Magic. And you are..." She pointed to each in turn. "Princess Twilight... Fluttershy... Pinky Pie... Zecora... Applejack... Rainbow Dash... and Rarity?" Each smiled and nodded happily as their names were called out, but Twilight trotted forward.
"That's right, but how do you know our names? We've never met you before." She paused for a moment, and turned back to the group. "Actually, ALL the hybrids we've met thus far knew who we were, didn't they?" Everyone nodded a little, and Rose spoke up.
"Well... when I look at each of you, names appear in my mind... if I had to guess, we all draw from The Anchor's memory, as well as our own individual memories when we possess him. And if our memory is correct... we were trying to move the sealed lacrima... to release our brethren and light the town again..?"
Rarity trotted forward this time. "Correct. Now, if you don't mind, I'm curious to what drew you. It's been something of a curiosity each time a different hybrid takes over. We were told by Taffy it's an emotion or an intense sensation. Tide was sadness, Hunny was joy, Sanskrit was wisdom or knowledge maybe, still working on that one... but Taffy was concern for others, he guessed. And you were..?" Rose suddenly laughed softly hearing all of this, sighing a little.
"That sounds like all of them actually, to a tee. Well, If I'm reading his memory correctly from before I came in, I was called by his hope, his determination. Seeing the lacrima move most likely caused this." Everyone murmured to each other in agreement, and Rose turned to the lacrima, staring it over. "Well it's nice to know my spell is still in effect. Looks like he was right again." She sighed and turned back to the group. "And since you all want it opened, I can help you with that too." She snapped her fingers suddenly, and a loud crack sounded out from above, before a crystal stalactite fell straight down from the cavern ceiling.
Its point struck the top of the stone orb, and a large wave of energy surged out from above the wide head of the fallen crystal, shooting a bright beam of light toward the crystal ceiling. As the crystal glowed brighter and brighter, the rock around the orb suddenly began to crack and split all along its sides. All at once, the rock shattered, falling to the ground with the crystal stalactite that fell, and revealing the gloriously shining lacrima of diamond clear-white underneath. Everyone stared at the lacrima in awe. The orb began to glow lightly, levitating itself a few feet off the ground. Rose suddenly drew a nail across the ground toward the sphere, and the small plant from before grew massively, looping behind Lily and slowly pushing the lacrima up and at an angle, until it hovered above the pillar it was on before.
"Zecora, I hate to tell you this, but your translation was a little off." Zecora turned to Rose curiously, before she continued, "The podium doesn't exactly negate the magic, it actually absorbs it. Though the lettering could have been worn through time. And, the reason for the distinction... is this!" As she spoke the words, the pillar began to light up in various colored lines travelling down, flowing into the ground therough the stone pathways. Each lit pathway hit a building doorway, each buildings' crystals in the walls lighting the buildings themselves in outlines of various colors. Each building began to react the same way, slowly lighting up the town one building at a time, from bottom to top.
Everyone cheered and happily watched the buildings light up one after another, some buildings showing colored writing on the fronts over the doorways that read 'FLOWERS,' 'FRUIT,' 'BAKED GOODS,' 'CLOTHING,' and many other names along a specific group of buildings. Rarity and Pinky Pie gasped together, shouting at the same time, "A Shopping Strip!" They both took off down the line together, trotting by all the stores, before Rarity stopped at a clothing store and boutique, squealing happily and rushing inside. Pinky Pie only made it a few doors farther, skidding to a stop as she found a bakery next door to a party store, squealing with glee. The rest followed after them, more in awe at the spectacular light show than the buildings, until Applejack and Zecora found a produce store.
Looking inside, there were rows upon rows of empty racks that were marked to hold fruits, vegetables, and herbs & spices of all kinds, some of which had names that were extremely rare. Rose stopped the remaining three and pointed toward a building in the distance, just starting to light up in trim of light blue, the word 'LIBRARY' suddenly appearing before it. Twilight gasped happily, and rushed off into the library, eyes wide and mouth agape at the impossibly huge library shelves. Rainbow Dash looked up and gasped, seeing the magic lines had reached the cavern ceiling, the crystals shimmering multiple colors and glittering lightly at the tips. Without a moment's hesitation, she spread her wings and took off, wanting to see how the flight paths looked with the lights.
Fluttershy remained beside Rose as they walked beside the beaten path, looking around in awe as Lily just grinned, petting her hair lightly. Rose sighed softly and closed her eyes, before her brown fur began to dissolve, falling off Mystery's copper brown body in what appeared to be seeds. Mystery suddenly shook himself clean, looking around, and was suddenly in just as much awe as Fluttershy at the sights. "Is... is this my home? My actual home?!" He smiled and started to laugh, trotting through the pathways through the immediate town, Fluttershy at his side. He was whooping happily as he watched the town light up, seeing life in it finally, before he suddenly saw a building he recognized in the distance.
His smile faded, seriousness replacing it as he rushed toward the tower with the sky view in the center of the land. He stopped at the doorway, staring at the open space he recognized. "Fluttershy... do you recognize this place..?" She looked up curiously, and gasped in dread. Mystery just nodded before he continued, "Yeah. This is the place, isn't it? Where it all went down." He sighed a little before he finished, "I'm going in... will you..?" She took a stilling breath and nodded, walking through the large open doors with Mystery. The two trotted inside and saw the open space from their shared vision. They spotted where the magic bubble stood, where each hybrid was separated and sent on their own into the outside.
He stared at the space for a moment, before he walked to the staircase up, Fluttershy just behind him. It was a slow ascent up, the stairs creaking at each step, until they finally reached the top room. He looked around slowly, seeing the same view as his vision once again. Taking a closer look, he saw the room was a bit plain overall, somethng he didn't take the time to notice from his vision. A large round stone table sat in the center, thirteen chairs surrounding it, each with an orb in the table edge of a different color. Mystery looked over the orbs curiously, and thought out loud, "Wait a moment.. Fluttershy, question.. Whenever one of the others took over, didn't you tell me that a colorful magic orb covered me? And each hybrid had a cloak of a different color?"
"Oh yes, and they were so pretty.."
"Hmm... Who had what color?"
Fluttershy thought hard about it. "Well... Tide was blue... Hunny was yellow... Sanskrit was orange... Taffy had purple... and Lily had brown I think. Why?" She glanced at the table, and she gasped a little. "They're the same colors... and there's a total of thirteen... So this place was their base?" Mystery nodded.
"Yeah... High Mages had to have a meeting place, I imagine.. where better than the center of the land and in the sky?" Fluttershy nodded a little as he walked around the table. "So... if I really was the king, then I had a place here too, right? And if my guess is right..." As he walked around, he saw a space with a golden orb, and he sat in the seat curiously. "Hmm.. good height.. actually comfy.. I think I sat here, definitely." He reached in and pawed at the orb before him, testing the positioning. The orb lit up softly under his paw, and he leaned back in the seat suddenly, the other orbs on the table all lighting up one after another. A section in the center of the table slowly opened, a tall throne slowly rising from it, facing away.
Fluttershy gasped and stared at the seated side of the throne, eyes wide, a glow coming from the chair. Mystery quickly ran to her, skidding to a stop beside her, and he quickly found himself with the same awe as she did. A translucent crystal sat in the throne, several feet tall, with what appeared to be a white figure inside of it, curled up in a fetal position, eyes closed. Mystery climbed slowly onto the table, Fluttershy keeping close behind. He placed a paw on the crystal gently, and gasped softly, fur flaring a bit. "Fluttershy.. I.. I think I've been wrong all this time.. I think.. I don't think I'm the king.."
"What makes you say that?"
"Call it a hunch.. I think whoever is in here is.. was the actual king." He stared closer at the crystal, watching the face more closely, before he continued, "Something about his appearance.. I can't quite put my digit on it." He knocked on the crystal a little with his claws, a small shock striking his nail and causing him to jump back. "Ack! What was that?!"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah... just a little shock. Not sure why-- uh.. Fluttershy.. when we first looked at the crystal, the person inside's eyes were closed, right..?"
"Oh yes, why?"
"... I was really hoping you weren't gonna say that..." She looked into the crystal to see the eyes were wide open, almost pure milk white inside, aside from a faintly darker circle in the centers. The eyes were not moving, staring straight ahead and watching Mystery directly. His eyes wide, he suddenly winced sharply, placing a paw on his face over an eye, the other glancing around rapidly as he groaned out repeatedly, "My Head..! My Head!!" A sharp sound suddenly filled his flicking ears, making them ring louder and louder, causing him to shout after only a few moments. Fluttershy approached him, terrified and no clue what to do, suddenly hugging his waist tightly. He continued to groan and shake his head back and forth, sweating heavily. "Get Out of My Head!!!"
He shouted out in anguish before he suddenly bashed his head into the crystal, a wild glare in his eyes of pure pain and fury. "You're doing this, aren't you?! AREN'T YOU?!" He suddenly began to claw at the crystal roughly and wildly, but not leaving a single mark. He continued to try anyways, his rage only growing before he shouted again in pained anguish, and a ball of pure red magic energy erupted and encased him, knocking Fluttershy back.
As she slowly picked herself up, she noticed some of the fur on her front legs was singed, and looked up to see the red orb had disappeared, leaving behind yet another new hybrid. The front paws replaced with bird feet and sharp talons, the feet and rear hooves a bright yellow until it met with a fiery red feather layer, covering the body completely until obscured by the darker red cloak, bearing a softly glowing symbol of red, orange and yellow fire. The tail was replaced with several strings of long, red teardrop-shaped feathers, flaring out a little like a fan. A pair of large wings stood from under the cloak, the body red and ending in orange feathertips. The head was definitely pony shaped, but a beak replaced the muzzle in pure black, the hair now tied back and all black aside from the tips in the shortened bangs tipped in red, offsetting the ruby eyes.
Growling deeply, he suddenly screeched out, a beam of pure flame and heat suddenly erupting from his beak, striking the crystal sharply and causing it to glow and shake a bit. After a few moments, what sounded like cracking suddenly rang out, the crystal appearing to begin to break. Fluttershy noticed his rear hooves were slowly starting to steam, eyes wide as they actually caught on fire suddenly. Ceasing the fire beam, he suddenly turned on his front clawed legs and struck the cracking crystal with both flaming hooves as hard as he could manage, a resounding shatter coming from the crystal. A sharp shine suddenly came from the break, and a small explosion rang out, knocking the firebird hybrid and Fluttershy back, as well as breaking all the windows in the circle room outward.
Groaning, the two stood slowly, but Fluttershy was the first to see the figure inside had been freed. A bizarre new mix of scales, hooves, antlers, and fur stood before the two, its body glowing a myriad of the thirteen colors on the table's spheres. The creature slowly stepped forward, standing on its two rear hooves. The legs were covered in a longer white-transparent fur, as were its forearms, ending in more slender paws. The rest was covered in shorter fur of the same shade, until it reached its stomach, covered in shimmering rainbow scales, running down between the legs and under the tail, long and slender, ending in a multicolor shaggy poof of fur. A mane of floor length stark white hair draped over the shoulders, a pair of deer like ears in the same white flicking lightly. The hair parted in the front to make way for a single deer-like antler, shining rainbow like the scales.
The firebired rubbed his head with a clawed leg, eyes wide. "Hey.. Hey, my head ain't hurtin' no more.." His accent was thick (Chicago American), and he breathed a heated sigh of relief, looking up to the crystalline figure. "What the.. KING?! You were th' one makin' my head ring?!"
The creature- King, apparently -turned his gaze to the firebird, smiling softly, before speaking, his voice double toned and soft, almost nurturing. "Blaze.. still hotheaded as ever, I see.. it feels like it has been an eternity.." He smiled softly before turning to Fluttershy, curiously glancing over her. "Hm.. and what do we have here.. a pony with wings.. a pegasus pony.. and what is your name..?"
She backed away a bit, watching the two nervously, before she softly stammered, "Uh.. F-Fluttershy.. sir..?" She squeaked as her rear bumped a wall, but King just smiled lightly and extended a slender paw, a light shimmering from it as a flower grew in his palm, crystal white, and flowed from his fingertips toward her, landing in her mane gently, just above her ear.
"Well Fluttershy.. it is a pleasure to meet you.. and this fiery pile of feathers is Blaze, High Mage of Fire, though I believe you could gather that on your own." Blaze growled a little at that, and Fluttershy giggled a bit, curiously touching the crystal flower now in her hair. King suddenly turned his attention toward the doorway. "Well.. it seems we have more visitors."
Rarity, Zecora, Applejack, and Pinky Pie galloped into the room, staring at the two new figures confused. Twilight and Rainbow Dash flew in from the open window space as quick as they could manage, Twilight's horn lit and radiating magic energy, before she spoke quickly. "We heard the explosion! Is everyone okay?!"
"Yes, we are all just fine, thank you.." Twilight turned to see a smiling King behind her, making her jump and accidentally fire a beam spell at his face. He simply raised a paw, catching the magic in his paw, before it shrank and disappeared in a sparkling poof. Blaze suddenly screeched and fired a beam of flame at the floor, creating a wall of fire and separating the group from King, Fluttershy and Blaze.
Gasping, the group backed away slowly, and an enraged Blaze slowly stepped through the flame wall, his body completely unharmed, his wings spread and catching the fire in swirls. "Attack my King again an' I'll BURN YOU ALL TO CINDERS!!" His red eyes reflected the flames as he glared at them, until an odd shower of rainbow sparkles fell over them all. The wall suddenly lowered and dissipated, Blaze looking back to see King had extinguished it with a glittering shower from his paw.
"Calm, Blaze.." The shower suddenly coated Blaze thickly, and he became a bit woozy, wobbling on his feet and eventually flopping onto the floor, appearing half asleep suddenly. "Yes.. my apologies, he is a bit hot-headed, if you'll forgive the.." He paused as he witnessed the firebird's body slowly turn black and grey, dissipating and falling apart in piles of ash, leaving Mystery beneath it, asleep as well. "...pun."
Fluttershy slowly trotted closer to Mystery, gently brushing off the ash from his fur, and nudging him to wake up. He snorted a little as he started to wake. He suddenly sneezed, spilling a cloud of ash everywhere around him, as he looked around to see the current scene. "Aaand... once again, missing something."
"My dear apprentice... you survived..." King suddenly kneeled and scooped up Mystery, holding him in a tight embrace. Mystery flailed a bit, causing King to hold him outward in front of him a little. When he came face to face with the crystalline creature, he relaxed some, allowing the being to hold him, but still clearly confused. The group collectively smiled and 'aww'ed the sweet scene, Fluttershy joining the others slowly, brushing the ash out of her own fur.
"Uh.. thank you.. yeah, I did, and.. I guess you did too, uh.. whoever you are.." This caused King to frown, looking to Mystery comfused, letting him down but remaining kneeling.
"Whoever I.. do you not remember me..?" Mystery shook his head slowly, and King sighed a little. "So that was the full extent of your damage.. you have no memory, do you? You poor thing.." Mystery shook his head some, and King let a tear roll down his cheek, forming a crystal pearl before it hit the floor. He placed Mystery on the floor and stood, walking back toward his throne in the center of the table somberly.
Mystery replied as he approached King, "But you clearly know who I am. In fact, you're the first to recognize me since I woke up. And the only other hybrid I've ever seen." Mystery suddenly felt awful for phrasing it how he did.
"Wait... the land has not been repopulated? Our brethren are still gone?" It's just.. us..?" King looked to Mystery, clearly concerned, and he simply nodded in response. "Hm.. they must still be sealed in the lacrima.. I must see at once." He grabbed what appeared to be a staff with a crystal on top, contained in a dragon's claw holder, and walked toward the door. The ponies and Zecora suddenly stepped in front of King, all angry.
Applejack raised a hoof. "Now hold on there pardner! I know yer anxious to bring ev'rypony back, but ain't you gonna explain anythin' to the only other of yer kind? I mean, don't ya think you oughta give 'im an explanation or.. sumthin'?"
King turned back to Mystery, shellshocked at his own rudeness. "Oh.. oh dear, I am so sorry.. please, come with me and I will explain everything on the way." Mystery trotted toward King, nodding a little, relieved to finally get some real answers, as all nine travelled down the stairs. Once they reached the bottom, King started, "First, I must know.. what have you learned thus far?"
Mystery replied as they walked together. "Well... our land was prosperous and happy, but we were being attacked out of jealousy and fear... and to protect pur people, their hybrid identities and magic, apparently, were sealed into that lacrima.. oh, and that something happened to me that made me lose my memory, which was related to the incident, and now these High Mage whatevers share my body too."
"Yes.. that is actually more than I expected. On the day of the separation, I took the lacrima and expended nearly all of my magic to force it to absorb the magic of our kind, but it left me weakened.. You stepped forward and used every drop of your magic to finish the job when I was too weak. It.. was a noble sacrifice.. and you did it without a moment's hesitation. You did not care if you survived, as long as everyone else did." Mystery nodded a little.
"After the incident, the few who remained did all they could to save you. The remaining Mages tried to find a way to keep you alive, but we discovered the internal damage was too severe.. you needed the magic you gave up to survive, and your magical potential was extraordinary... there was too much to replace. So, one of our members stepped forward with a charged crystal and a plan."
Mystery interjected. "I'm going to take a guess... Sanskrit with a time spell." Twilight's eyes widened as she stopped, staring at the group for a moment wide-eyed.
"Very astute. How did you figure that out?" Mystery pulled out the original orange crystal from Twilight's bag, holding it out for King. He picked it up and examined it closely, smiling a little. "So it worked.. You are correct. He charged this with a time dilation spell, so the target would speed through time. Years would pass, but within the spell, it would feel like minutes."
Mystery replied, "Yeah, I kinda figured.. so the other Mages sealed themselves in me and kept me alive, while that time spell sped me through time to heal."
"You don't know what it was to put you in that crate in your condition... not knowing if you would survive, but simply praying you would... in the meantime, I sealed myself in a similar fashion, as you found. And it seems the twelve's magics saved you afterall..." King smiled and turned toward the rest, sighing a little as he walked backwards. "Now.. for the rest of you.. I can tell you all have questions."
"Heck yeah we do, like.. what even are you exactly?!" Applejack blurted out first, everyone nodding as well. King simply laughed a little, his voice ringing like a chandelier.
"Oh of course, that is to be expected! I am King Stardust, and I am what is known as a Crystal Kirin. As you can see, I'm similar to a hybrid, and yet.. still different." He waved a paw about, rainbow glitter suddenly fluttering free of his paw and floating through the air, forming into crystal butterflies as they fluttered by, leaving everyone agasp and amazed. "You can call me whichever you prefer."
"I've never heard of a kirin before, in any of my species books." Twilight watched him closely, seeing how every move he made was so precise and coordinated, before she continued, "And you move with such grace... I've never seen anything like it."
King chuckled softly. "Well we are fairly obscure, but we have existed throughout the history of time. It does not surprise me there is no record."
A deep playful voice spoke out from behing King, "What happened to your old friend Discord?" The group gasped, and King's smile disappeared, replaced with a face of absolute irritation, as he turned and found himself face to face with a grinning Discord, currently face-to-face with King Stardust. Discord grinned and continued, "I do hope he's doing well, and certainly wasn't left all alone for those many, many years that passed."
King sighed softly. "Hello, Discord. Alive and well I see, much to my own chagrin."
Discord pouted and replied, "Aww, don't be that way, we used to be so close!"
"If by close you mean you attempted to wreak havoc on my homeland and people on a weekly basis, then yes, we were very close." Discord laughed happily and shrank a bit, sitting on King's shoulder.
"You DO remember! Oh I'm so thrilled... and I would've never found you if these ponies hadn't done the work for me, isn't that just delicious?" Discord laid back and grinned at the group, wiggling his eyebrows playfully. "Seriously, you all did a fantastic job. How about I treat you to some cooki--" King suddenly grabbed Discord in his paw, squeezing tightly on him and making him squeak like a squeaky toy.
"Accursed chaotic demon, you still intend to torment my home to this day?!" King's paw suddenly lit up, glimmering dust coating Discord and freezing him into a small crystal statue, glaring down at it with a rage that rivaled even Blaze's.
Fluttershy dove and knocked the statue from his paw, holding it tightly and turning to him. "Wait! King, sir, please let him go.. Discord is reformed! I don't think he's here to torment you anymore.."
King turned to her with severe confusion. "You... speak as if you know of him."
Fluttershy stood and smiled, nodding, as the group stood behind her. Pinky Pie jumped about, giggling as she spoke, "It's true! He loves my cupcakes, and he always has tea with Fluttershy~ And he knows how to dance too, always a blast at parties!" Staring at them blankly, King looked to Mystery, who stared back at him, but nodded slowly. King turned to Fluttershy, and raised a paw, removing the dust from Discord and freeing him. Discord stretched and yawned as he regrew to full size.
"Is this true, demon?"
Discord bent backward and popped his back a few times, and grinned. "Oh yes, I just love to par-tay!!" A discoball lowered above him, and he proceeded to show off his breakdancing skills for the group, all of whom laughed except King. Even Mystery smiled and snickered a little. As he finally stopped dancing, he stood before King and continued, "But in all seriousness, I truly am a brand new me. I use my powers to help Them, and they can attest to it!"
King looked to the ponies, all of whom nodded, and King shook his head slowly. "Never would I see a day where the demon of chaos could become... friends with anyone. Very surreal. But times change, I suppose." He continued to walk, and looked back. "Very well, I will trust you.. be sure I don't regret my decision." Fluttershy just smiled up at Discord, who walked with the group toward the town center's lacrima.
When they reached the center, Pinky Pie suddenly stated, "That lacrima is sooo pretty! When the town is finally back to normal, we should totally throw a party to celebrate! And that lacrima can be the center of the whole party!!" She gave a cheesy grin, and King just smiled down at her and sighed.
"You remind me of Foxtrot's wife.. loves to throw parties at the drop of a hat. She ran the party supply store and bakery herself."
Mystery thought about that. "Oh jeez.. Did anyone else suddenly imagine two Pinky Pies in direct vicinity of each other? How would we survive?" Everyone snickered a little, but King looked down to Mystery with deep sorrow, before turning to the lacrima. He watched it closely, his eyes glowing a soft white for a few moments, before he blinked, smiling softly.
"They are all here... Every single one of them are still here, sound asleep... I am so relieved... And now, we only need one thing for them to be able to return en masse." He turned back to the group and smiled wider, before he continued, "We just need to give them physical bodies, and I can disenchant the lacrima, and release them all." The ponies all looked to each other, confused at that.
"That's right... They were separated from their bodies..." Mystery looked down, ears drooping. "I... I didn't think about that, I just thought.. How are we going to get living bodies for them to inhabit..?" King just smiled at the downtrodden hybrid, running a hand through his mane.
"Oh dear boy... We thought of a solution for that one long beforehand. In the past, you had the spell augmented so an artificial body could be used. You do not know just how valued you were to this land, then or now." Mystery's eyes widened, looking up to King, and he smiled as King continued, "That just leaves the matter of gathering the crystal bodies to give. "
Twilight gasped and smiled, raising a hoof. "King Stardust, I think I know who can help us."
Cadence and Shining Armor gasped in awe at the beautiful cavern and magic lights that lit it, laughing happily as they looked around alongside Twilight. Behind her, a pair of guards towed a series of covered carts into the cavern, all of which quickly mimiced her surprise. Fluttersy and her group sat around King as he regaled them with tales of their past, with Discord interrupting him partway to correct him, until everyone noticed Twilight's return, and King paused his story.
Twilight approached with the four in tow, and pointed to King. "Princess Cadence and Shining Armor of the Crystal Empire, this is King Stardust of the Land of Duality."
King was quick to kneel and bow, one paw on his staff. The two smiled and bowed to the King as well, and they all stood before Twilight began again, "They brought thirteen crystal pony-shaped statues, just like you requested... but why so few?" King just smiled and pet Mystery again.
"Well... for all he has done and been through, I feel as though the lad deserves some sort of reward, so... I will first remove the twelve Mages from him, and then... a small surprise." King's paw slowly lit, and Mystery gasped softly, and his eyes began to glow, as well as his mouth, each emitting a beam of light. After a moment, King raised his paw, and in it were twelve small glowing wisps of light, roughly the size of marbles.
Mystery' eyes and mouth slowly stopped glowing, and he shook his head, blinking rapidly, before looking at the wisps. "Those are the Mages' minds and magics? Huh.. thought they'd be bigger for some reason." King just snickered and shook his head a little, before he trotted to the carts, and removed the covers from them to reveal the thirteen statues. Mystery trotted closer and stared at the statues, headtilting a bit. "So... what now?"
"Now... I do this." King put a wisp marble against one of the statue's heads, and it sank in slowly, before it siddenly enveloped the statue in a blazing red. Fluttershy gasped softly first, recognizing it as Blaze's magic color, quickly hiding behind Cadence and Shining Armor. The sphere dissipated, and the statue was suddenly replaced by Blaze himself, except slightly transparent.
Blaze blinked for a moment, before he started to stretch deeply, yawning a little, and looked around, noticing everyone staring at him. "What? I got sumthin' on m' face?" He then noticed Mystery and grinned sharply. "Well hey there Runt, where you been hiding?" He hopped off the cart, then paused when a thought occured. "Hey.. wait.. if I'm here.. and you're there.. and King is there.. and all these randoms are starin' at me like I'm a ghost.."
Everyone suddenly burst into cheer, jumping for joy. Even Blaze let out a proud shriek, but he suddenly noticed he was a little see through. "Hey, hang on a sec, I can see through myself.. Am I made of frickin' glass or sumthin'?"
Cadence stepped forward, Shining Armor at her side and Fluttershy behind, as Cadence spoke with a smile, "Crystal, actually. From the Crystal Empire. I'm Princess Cadence and this is my husband, Shining Armor." Blaze stared at the two for a moment.
"So... I'm made of crystal now. Like, not the cheap stuff, the real deal?" King nodded a little, and Blaze continued. "Suh-Weet! I'm unbreakable!!!" He let out a proud screech, and unleashed a fireball straight up into the air, showing off a little as he spread his wings and flew off into the town, stretching out. Rainbow Dash smiled and took off after him, grinning all over herself.
"That.. was definitely Blaze at his finest. Heh.. My apologies." King moved to the next statues, dropping the yellow and blue wisps into each one, magic spheres encasing them and revealing Hunny and Tide when they dissipated. Both stretched slowly, then looked each other in the eye, eyes widening, before they turned to King, and then Mystery, both in shock, as King spoke, "Before you say anything.. yes, this is all real... and you are now crystal hybrids."
Hunny grinned and giggled, flutering upward. "Ooh, that sounds fancy!~" He fluttered around the group curiously, waving at the ponies he recognized, before he headbutted Discord in the gut, sliding straight down to the ground. He looked up and gasped at Discord, suddenly squealing in delight and hugging his arm. "Uncle MixEmUp! I thought I'd never see you again!"
For once, Discord was the one with the look of unease, laughing nervously as he pulled a large spatula out from behing himself and peeled Hunny off his arm. "Uh.. Don't look too much into that.. heh, long story." But several ponies just grinned toward each other, satisfied that there was someone who could actually make Discord uncomfortable. But before anyone could use this new information, Tide grabbed Hunny's abdomen's tail fluff, pulling him with as Tide trotted past the king.
"Excuse me Sir.. it seems we have much to do to make everyone feel at home again. I need to begin preparations to restore the land's water supply." Tide simply walked off, Hunny grabbing at the ground as he was dragged away, trying to get back to Discord. Several began to snicker at Discord, and he just harumphed and crossed his arms, facing away from the group. But secretly, he smiled a little and waved toward Hunny as he left.
Flashes of orange, purple, and brown also appeared around three more statues, orbs of the same colors enveloping them and dissipating, leaving behind Sanskrit, Taffy, and Rose, all looking around confused. King smiled toward them as they stepped off the carts, all three smiling at each other, cheering realizing they were finally free. Rose began to tear up, smiling as she wiped them away. As they hit the ground, a single red flower grew from the ground.
She picked it and placed it in her hair, while Taffy walked to King, bowing before him. "It is good to finally see you again.. it has been so long.. and I see you've held up fairly well, given the circumstances." King smiled wide and nodded, kneeling down and placing a paw upon Taffy's head, ruffling his hair between his big flopping-about ears, causing him to paw at King's hand, laughing softly.
Sanskrit just grinned wildly wide, looking around at everyone and the town, taking the sights in with great detail. Twilight trotted toward him and nudged him, stating matter-of-factly, "So... mister Time Magic master... did everything happen according to plan?" Sanskrit smiled down at her, snickering softly.
"So you figured it out... Not that it was some grand secret. How did you know?"
"Well... you seemed too secure in your knowledge, too confident in yourself, even for a High Mage in my opinion.." Twilight began, looking toward Mystery for a moment as he spoke to Taffy, before she continued, "And you said you and 'a few select others' were sealed away separately, but something told me you were not being entirely honest..." Sanskrit snickered a bit, walking off with Twilight at his side, as she continued. "I think there was only ONE sealed away separately. That crate couldn't have held more than two, regardless of how long. Plus, someone had to activate the crystal. They can't operate independently as far as I can tell from my research, so..."
"No wonder you were selected to be a princess! Suppose there's no point in hiding it anymore, is there? Oi, come on out! She says she figured us out!" As he shouted to a building, a figure trotted out from behind it, another tiger hybrid. But upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Sanskrit, or an almost exact copy, but his fur very shaggy, and with a non-transparent body.
"I knew it! You were with Mystery all along. You sealed yourself in with him, knocked the rock wall down after, changed his hay, brought him drinking water, helped to keep him alive... but you made sure he didn't know it was 'you.' And he never questioned it, because he never saw you."
The shaggy Sanskrit smiled and sighed. "You're absolutely correct.. and I assume you know what'll happen next." Twilight smiled and stepped back as Shaggy Sanskrit held out a crystal, bright orange and glowing, before handing it to Sanskrit. Sanskrit suddenly closed his eyes and a glowing orb of orange encased him, as he disappeared in a warbling glow of bright orange, leaving Shaggy Sanskrit behind.
"You're creating a circumstance loop... Sanskrit in the past met Sanskrit from now, with the charged crystal and a plan... and King Stardust said one hybrid did the body hop experiment.. it was Sanskrit from now, giving them the information about the transfer spell, which only Mystery could do and King Stardust would be able to undo.. Past Sanskrit is sealed, present Sanskrit takes his place, and stays with Mystery until now, being you, take Present Sanskrit after he goes to the past, and creates an infinite loop!"
"Hm. I remember you being brilliant, but this is a whole other level I never saw.." Sanskrit pulled up his damaged cloak over his head, keeping himself covered as the two rejoined the group, speaking softly toward Twilight, "Let's keep this a secret for now.. but, care to escort me to that salon you took Mystery to later? I could use a trim." Twilight smiled and nodded, and once the two rejoined the group, Sanskrit approached King, and he gave Sanskrit a knowing grin.
"Now.. you see all the mages you knew beforehand.. now meet the rest." King dropped the remaining wisps onto six of the seven statues, orbs of green, pink, white, silver, gray, and black appearing and dissipating quickly, leaving six new hybrids to yawn and stretch in their places. From green appeared another scaled hybrid, a deep tree green as he yawned, showing off a pair of fangs inside his muzzle, and scratched his dark green hair with a clawed hoof. A pair of scaled wings extended, pushing back his green cloak to reveal an entirely snake body beneath. The turqoise tornado symbol on his cloak glowed softly.
As he slithered off the cart, he spoke softly with a hiss toward King. "Sssir.. it'sss been ssso long.. isss thisss real?" King smiled and nodded, and he sighed happily, closing his eyes and flapping his scaled wings softly, a wafting breeze filling the cavern slowly and bringing a breath of fresh air in.
King smiled and turned to the group. "This is Gust, High Mage of Wind, a winged serpent hybrid. Very rare, in fact." Gust just chuckled a little, slithering away slowly, until he spotted the ponies, smiling as his tongue fluttered about in the air for a brief moment.
"Mmm.. I do ssso love poniesss.. but I could never finish one.." As the pony girls gasped, he simply snickered and sighed a little. "Relaaaxss.. I'm a vegetarian." He just snickered and slithered away toward Rose, and began chatting with her, talking about the trees, of all things.
The next two that approached came from the pink and white orbs, a large griffin hybrid approaching, wings extended, one wrapped around a deer hybrid. As the two approached, the deer tried to stay farther back, whimpering a little nervously, trying to shakily pull his white cloak hood over his antlers, but to no avail. The gryphoness, upon closer inspection, simply stroked a clawed foot gently through the deer's short faint brown hair between his antlers, causing him to blush a little.
The gryphoness spoke, "Mm.. hello there, I'm Amora, High Mage of Location Magic.. and the sweetheart in my wing is Mocha. Don't let his shyness fool you, he's our wonderful High Mage of Ice Magic, aren't you?" Mocha squeaked a little, backing away a bit again, nodding softly, speaking nervously and so softly, noone was able to hear him. "So cute.. he said 'it's nice to meet you all,' by the way." Everyone smiled at him, and Fluttershy's eyes widened considerably, staring at the adorable deer hybrid boy, giggling a little.
The last three that came forward had a more negative appearance to them, all three carrying looks of disgust, uncaring, and malice, mainly toward each other. Two glared at each other and jumped away, facing each other, ready to fight. One, a raccoon hybrid from the silver, flared his poofy tail, electricity charging inside of it, his lightning bolt cloak mark glowing. The other, a black fox hybrid almost mimicing Mystery in appearance if not for in all black, snarled as his shadow suddenly grew larger around him, rising up in the shape of a large monster, his cloak mark of a full moon glowing as well.
The two suddenly jumped toward each other, before they paused in mid-air and slammed straight down into the ground, hard. The last hybrid, a grey wolf, slowly trotted forward, sighing softly as he approached the two. Upon closer inspection, they could see a ring of grey around the raccoon and black fox, a warbling effect coating them, as the wolf approached the ponies. "My apologies.. these two are always at each other's throats.." The wolf spoke plainly, coldly, and almost depressed sounding.
"The raccoon is Tempesta, High Mage of Electricity.. the fox is our High Mage of Darkness Magic, who prefers to go by No-Name for some reason.." The group simply turned to Mystery, who was simply sitting by King Stardust, and looked at them all curiously as they stared at him.
"What?" He asked, confused. He apparently had missed an amazing coincidence despite the obviousness. Everyone else looked to each other, then the group turned back to the wolf, and Mystery continued, "And what about your name?"
The wolf turned to Mystery, confused. "You... don't remember me..? I'm Grimm.. High Mage of Gravity Magic.." Mystery just shook his head slowly, and Grimm's ears drooped, severely, his black eyes half lidded as his cloak mark of a black down arrow glowed deeply. The gravity around the other two suddenly increased, creating a small hole in the ground where the two lay, grunting and squirming. Everyone gasped and Grimm slowly turned, glancing behind himself. "Oh.. I forgot these two.." Silver finally let the gravity field go, the two slowly climbing out of the holes they were forced into. They made sure to stay apart, but the fox spoke with a deep, slightly raspy tone.
"Tch.. Interfering, Grimm? Honestly, you're almost as bad as the Raccoon over there.."
"Shut your mouth now, incarnation of evil." Tempesta spoke this time, his tone very militant and verbose. "You are the one constantly attempting to committ crimes, swindling others out of their money, and scaring the innocent. You should be jailed."
"Oh should I? Well that's up to King Stardust to decide, not you. You are Not a guard, Not a soldier, and certainly Not a law enforcer." No-Name just grinned darkly, his piercing yellow eyes and sharp teeth offsetting his fur and sending a chill down the spine of almost everyone present. Tempesta growled again suddenly, snapping a lightning bolt toward No-Name from his still-flared tail. It struck him, and his body suddenly dissipated, causing everyone to gasp.
Discord suddenly spoke up, amusedly, "Oh, are you looking for this?" He suddenly grabbed the ground where his shadow was, and pulled No-Name by the nape of his neck out of the darkness, his body hanging in his grasp. King just sighed a little, a paw on his face softly, as he contemplated what to do from here.
"Never did I expect the entity of chaos itself to hold the High Mage of Darkness Magic.. even aloud, it makes almost no sense." King sighed softly, but smiled a little. "Nevertheless, my Thirteen High Mages are now assembled again. I have joyously awaited this day." Twilight's group looked around, confused, a few suddenly counting out, noticing something was amiss.
"Excuse me.." Fluttershy poked King's leg gently, and he kneeled, before she continued, "You only released twelve mages.." King simply smiled and looked to Mystery, before everyone gasped a little, and Fluttershy finished, "You mean, he's a High Mage..?"
"That's right. You have been with the Thirteenth High Mage, and the leader of the group to boot. This is the High Mage of Unity Magic." King stood and approached Mystery. "He had a mastery of all magics, truly, but he excelled at Unity spells, magic that can make or break the bonds of anything he willed. Structures, elements, even living beings. He alone was.. actually the source of much of our infamy."
Mystery just stared at King as he placed a paw in Mystery' hair, and continued, "The spell that bound the twelve to him was crafted by himself, the magic that separated the hybrid identities was him.. He was a true savant of his craft." King sighed and shook his head solemnly. "But the loss of your magic, AND your memories.. we have reclaimed our home, but at such a price.."
"HOLD ON JUST A SEC!!" Rainbow Dash suddenly bolted down from above, landing in the distance with a screeching halt that caught the attention of everyone. Blaze followed behind by a few seconds, screeching behind her in a similar fashion, before she continued, "They aren't gone! They're broken!" Everyone's eyes widened suddenly. "Remember? The memory spell Celestia and Luna cast brought them back, sort of. Uh.. he saw them in a dream thing, I think?"
"Is this true?" King looked down to Mystery, who nodded a little, and King suddenly smiled wide. "Then.. there is a chance! If we could simply repair your damaged memories, you.. you might be able to remember!" King grasped his staff in both hands tightly, suddenly deep in thought. "Hmm... Two princess level memory spells... and it only worked for a short time... that means this will require an extreme level of magic."
Mystery blinked a few times, feeling a bit dizzy, but gasped a little. "Wait, two weren't enough... but what about four? We have two more alicorn princesses. Would that be enough?" King smiled again at Mystery, and looked to Cadence and Twilight.
Twilight and Cadence looked toward each other, both smiling, and nodded. "We'll do it, definitely," Twilight started, "But we need the other princesses to do it. I'll go and ask for their help. Sanskrit, why don't you come with me? You're good at speaking to an audience." Sanskrit snickered softly and trotted forward, still hooded, and followed her out.
As he left the cavern with her, he simply stated to Twilight, "Clever girl... Almost impossibly clever."
Sanskrit and Twilight trotted back with the Princesses Celestia and Luna in tow, all headed back to the center wherethe rest were huddled in a circle, all suddenly having a saddened expression. King Stardust stood from his kneeling position, solemnly looking to the four, before he spoke, "Welcome back.. my apologies your welcome isn't warmer, but.. we have a problem."
As the four approached, they were horrified to see Mystery lying on the ground, breathing slowly and looking semi-comatose. Everyone watched as Taffy repeatedly struck him with any healing magic he could think of, causing Mystery' body to glow softly, but nothing else. Taffy sighed and looked up to King. "I'm sorry... he's reverted.. I'm afraid no healing spell can fix this, only delay it. We need something much stronger... he needs high levels of magic to regulate his body now. It's how he survived with us."
"I feared this... but thank you for trying, Taffy." King sighed softly, and looked to the rest. "This is my fault... I thought he had healed, that he could be separate from the others, survive on his own, but without magic.." He looked to the princesses specifically. "If we are to save him, it will require a massive level of magic.. I apologize to change the deal like this, but.. Princesses.. I beseech you to help me save the savior of our people. He deserves to live. Please."
Princess Celestia smiled suddenly, and nodded. "Of course we will. He deserves to live as much as anypony else. But we may be able to do better than just us princesses..." She suddenly turned to the cave entrance, and a stampeding noise roared out as several ponies suddenly flooded into the cavern, every single one with a horn magically glowing brightly, before she continued, "I told everyone it was time to help the newest member of our home, and they simply flocked at the chance to come."
Luna followed up. "Even those without magic wish to help, with the town's rebuilding and resource replenishing. But first, every magic user step forward! We will be donating our magic to this young hybrid who so desperately needs it!" Suddenly a large circle formed around them of unicorns, each of them pointing their horns toward Mystery. They all fired their magic toward him in unison, a multitude of rainbow magics striking him. The four alicorn princesses all stood together separately, unifying their memory spell beams and aiming them together at Mystery's head, adding even more to the mix.
Mystery was unmoving for a moment, before he suddenly gasped, his body shining a bright and glorious gold as it slowly levitated upward. King began to laugh with glee as he finally saw a reaction, raising his own paw toward him and adding his own rainbow magic particles to the mix. All twelve High Mages joined in as well, including No-Name and Tempesta, despite the glares at each other all the while. Discord stood beside Fluttershy, extending an arm and throwing a bit of magic in as well. Mystery suddenly gasped and shouted out loudly, his body suddenly engulfed by a golden orb of energy.
The unicorns and alicorns stopped their beams, allowing the glowing sphere to descend to the ground slowly. The sphere dissipated upon touching the ground, revealing a proudly standing Mystery, smiling and tail flicking excitedly. He spoke, his voice having a more serious tone, "Everyone... thank you. For everything. I would not be standing here without all of you." He turned to King and finished, "I.. I can see.. flashes, brief images and voices.. I think my memories may be coming back.. you and the princesses all did it!" Everyone suddenly roared with cheer at that, before King replied.
"Glorious! Now.. let's get to--"
Mystery stopped King suddenly. "Wait..! Wait, there's something specific coming to mind.. or no, wait, there's.. someone maybe? Uh.. white.. scales.. fur.. female.. the name escapes me.." He rubbed a paw against his forehead a little. "This person seems really important.. I think I know her maybe?" He paused and looked to King again, before he finished, "Do you recognize anyone of that description?"
King smiled, and nodded a little. "I know of one.. and irony seems to follow you, my apprentice. She is definitely important." King took Mystery with him, and everyone slowly backed away, making a path toward the lacrima. "She was related to the gift I had planned for you. And I believe now is as good a time as any. Care to lend a hand?" King raised a paw toward the lacrima, and Mystery nodded a little, cosing his eyes for a moment. His cloak began to glow a brilliant gold, and one of his paws began to shine as well. He reached and placed a paw to the lacrima, and a flash of golden light erupted from it.
"I... I thnk I dspelled the seal keeping the identities inside... could you test it Sir?" King smiled wide hearing him call him 'Sir,' and reached his own paw to the lacrima. A small white wisp flowed down from it, right into King's paw. King gently held the wisp and walked to the remaining statue, placing it on the forehead. It shined warmly, a honey and white colored sphere appearing and dissipating, leaving a white dragon hybrid. This one was scaled completely white, with honey colored eyes, bellyscales, front claws, and rear hooves. Long white hair complimented her muzzle, and as she stretched, her wings extended and revealing gold wingwebbing between the bones.
As she stretched and yawned, the first thing her eyes locked onto was Mystery. Tears filling her eyes, she immediately rushed in and wrapped her arms and wings around him in a tight, loving hug. The audience around them collectively released an "aww" at the two, and a few moments passed before he hugged her back. She finally spoke, a voice sweet and deep as honey, "I can't believe it.. Foxtrot, you're okay.. I never thought I'd see you again.."
"Kali... Your name is Kali.. I remember now.. you were my.." Choking back his tears, he held her tighter. "..You're my wife!" The two burst into tears of joy, everyone else cheering ecstatically for their reunion. Except for Fluttershy. She just watched silently, her eyes locked onto Mystery-- rather Foxtrot, and sihed softly, looking downtrodden. She turned and began to walk away, staring at the ground as she headed away from the group. As she did, a patch of white appeared on the ground in front of her, causing her to pause, and from it grew a pure white rose, the air around it cold. She gasped softly, picking the icy flower gently and holding it tenderly, smiling a little.
"Treat that with care, Little Precious," Amora stated smoothly, a long wing wrapping around Fluttershy from her side when she wasn't paying attention, causing her to jump a little. She smiled down at Fluttershy, who stared up at her, while Mocha poked his little muzzle around the side of Amora's chest to look over at Fluttershy, blushing bright red. Amora continued, "This little Sweetheart doesn't make them often, so treat it as you would a 'good friend.'" Fluttershy smiled wide at 'good friend,' and giggled at Mocha softly, to which he bashfully smiled a little, and trotted backward a bit to hide beside Amora once more, taking refuge under her free wing. All three turned back to the crowd, watching the celebration from afar.
King stardust held his staff in the air, grinning suddenly as the sphere head launched bursts of sparks into the air, exploding into fireworks to the delight of all. King stepped forward with a slam of his staff tail into the ground, laughing happily. "Ponies and hybrids alike, I thank you all! Without your help, this would have all been for naught! You have shown me, shown US, that this world is filled with truly generous beings, genuinely kind beings! And this day shall go into the history books as the first step of the restoration of the hybrid race!!!"
The next several weeks went into a pattern of the Crystal Empire bringing crystal statues to the caverns, King releasing hybrids to possess them, and the revived creatures slowly adapting to their old lives in the new time. Many couldn't believe how much time had passed, many did not care, and many were saddened at the loss of friends the time jump caused... But the support of the ponies from the new era, as well as their family and friends that were one-by-one revived, gave them new hope to keep going, and to start anew in Duality.
It turned out the young fox hybrid had quite a few friends in the past, much to noone's surprise. He was too kind to NOT have friends, afterall. Every day, anyone who walked by would wish him the best, and while he had some nervousness about it at first, he slowly grew to enjoy the bits of attention. Some would even give him gifts of new foods and trinkets that were made for him to test, all of which were made in the land itself, a sure sign Duality was returning to its former glory, according to King.
He also found his ability to use magic had been restored, although it took time and training to bring it to a feasible level, something everyone enjoyed helping him with. He became an assistant to the community in general, walking to the far ends of the land and back every day to help with whatever he could, even if it was as simple as returning a ball to a child. As his memories repaired themselves, he could recall names, faces, personalities, and locations easier every day. And Kali was thrilled with the development every time he came home to her.
Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack trotted into the town, Twilight's saddlebags filled with books and trinkets from the modern world she knew Duality would need. They immediately spotted the gold cloak, and waved him down immediately. "Mystery!" they shouted in unity, catching his attention. He ran to them and happily gave each pony a grand hug.
"Hey! Great to see you gals again! What brings you by?"
Twilight levitated the books out of her bags and placed them before him, and he looked over the titles curiously, as Twilight responded, "A few things actually, one was to bring you these. Storybooks for the kids, history books for everyone, and just new things for your library." He nodded and smiled, as a barn owl hybrid swooped down and grabbed them all, causing everyone to jump, except Foxtrot, grinning. The owl only paused for a moment to glancing over the book titles, before whooshing them to the library. "What was that?!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Oh that? He's Crescent, our in-training librarian under Sanskrit." He smiled and waved at Crescent as he left, already in the library, shutting the door behind him.
"Wait, Sanskrit runs th' library?" Applejack asked curiously.
"Oh yes, it was his job before. Everyone picked up their old jobs from before this whole wartime mess. Hunny's running the daycare center, Taffy's at the hospital and nursery, and Blaze is cultivating the guard. Not much to go on with that though, since most of us are peaceful, but the few who do it just do it to have an excuse to get some fighting practice in. What can you do?" He shrugged and trotted off, and the four followed. "Speaking of jobs, where's Rarity? Figured she'd want to see our new fashions."
"She had a dress order to do for some fashion magazine," Rainbow Dash responded, "And I haven't seen Pinky Pie today."
Foxtrot smiled and responded, "She's actually been with Kali most of the day, helping her run the party store and bakery. With all the time that passed, she simply demanded we throw a gigantic birthday party for everyone to catch up with, and well... Pinky jumped on that ship instantly." The five laughed a little nervously, realizing just how similar the two really were.
He pointed toward a few buildings and stated, "Anyways, Gust and Amora are working together as therapists, mainly for nervous disorders and relationship counseling... Uh, Grimm's doing physical therapy for the injured at the clinic, Tempesta is doing a martial arts class in tandem with Blaz--"
"Wait, back up a sec.." Applejack stopped him, "Did ya'll just say injuries? Now I'm'a li'l confused.. ev'ryone's made of crystal! How're they hurtin' at all??"
"Oh, I'm glad you brought that up! You're never gonna believe this." He paused for a moment and walked to a nearby stream of water, a pair of eyes staring him back from within. A large body suddenly leaped from the water and landed before the ponies, turning out to be Tide when he pushed his hood back, dripping a little as he sat down. He sat before the five and bowed respectfully, before Foxtrot continued, "Tide, show them what's happening to all the crystal bodies."
Tide lifted a wing and extended it toward the ponies, and everyone immediately noticed with a gasp that it wasn't that partial transparent that everyone had before. He calmly invited, "Please, touch my wing." They all touched it together, feeling a warm, wet wing. It was warm, with actual body heat! And soft too, like actual skin.
Foxtrot laughed a little excitedly, "Isn't this amazing?! The possession spell is dissolving the crystal and replacing it over time, making everyone slowly become flesh and blood again! I don't know how I came up with the spell, and I still don't clearly remember it, but I feel proud of it." Twilight just laughed nervously.
"Yeah, you were something else alright.. so Tide, what are you doing now?"
"I'm working as a water maintenance operative.. ensuring the water stays clean and clear as it flows theough the land.. especially toward Rose's gardens and fields."
"Now we're gettin' somewhere!" Applejack grinned, "This I gotta see! Where are th' fields?! I wanna see how ya'll grow yer foods!" Tide pointed to the end of a street, and the group trotted away, leaving Tide to do his job with a smile and a wave. He simply waltzed back to the water and dove back in, quickly speeding through the stream.
As they approached the first fields, the group was in awe at the sights of the trees, vines, and fields of flowers, fruits, vegetables, and wheats that grew in abundant quantities, all with wooden fences between each other. Rose was carrying a bouquet of, ironically, roses in her arm as the five approached her, and she hugged them all in her free arm and wings happily, squeezing them tightly, as she spoke, "Well this is a pleasant surprise! It's so nice to see you all. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
Foxtrot replied, "They came by to see me, and I was taking them on a tour to see what everyone's up to. Who are the roses for, by the way? If I'm headed in that direction, maybe I can drop them off for you."
"Oh, they're for Mocha, actually. Poor thing got spooked, froze a patch of ground under him, slipped and hurt his rear left.. I thought these might make him feel better." Rose let them have a closer look, letting them smell them too. Fluttershy smiled and sighed happily, giggling.
"They smell amazing.. how did you get them to grow so quickly..? Did you use your magic to do it..?"
"Well, a little I suppose.." She began, smiling. "I use it to control the earth itself, breaking up the rock, passing around the mineral groups, making channels inside to allow water to travel. But I won't force the plants to absorb nutrients or put out their personal produce faster. I found it harms them, and is just... disrespectful as a cultivist. Sure, I make the plants grow sometimes, but I don't make them bud, bloom, or produce. They do it when they're ready." Applejack smiled and nodded in respect. Rose smiled and handed the bouquet to Twilight. "If you could take these to him, I'm sure he'd appreciate it."
"Absolutely. We'll go there now!" The five trotted off, waving to Rose as she went to the pumpkin patch to inspect their sizes. As they went, Twilight asked, "Hey, what does Mocha do now? I mean, he's so skiddish, so he couldn't possibly handle a public job..."
"Actually, believe it or not, he runs a small store with frozen goods. He mainly just freezes the foods, puts them in a large locker, and brings them out later, but he also cleans up." He snickered a little before he continued, "Still, he gets plenty of interaction, especially from the ladies. They're drawn to him for some reason. Mostly because he's 'adorable.'" He shrugged, and Fluttershy blushed a bit, smiling guiltily.
Twilight suddenly interjected, "Hey, what about No-Name? Did he find something to do?"
"Well... yeah... he runs the bank now." Everyone inhaled sharply, making a collective hissing, before Fluttershy changed the subject, being mindful to walk up the stairs carefully into the nfirmary building.
Mocha squirmed a little in the bed, blushing deeply under the watchful eye of the female dove, fox, and bunny nurses, all smiling and watching his every move. They were all waiting for him to say anything, do anything, just to hear that adorably shy voice. His bed was filled with gift boxes, flowers, and a single stuffed bear that he held onto tightly, the only physical shield between him and the nurses. Yet another reason he was being watched so closely. A familiar voice filled the deer hybrid's ears, flicking softly as he turned to the door to see four ponies and a friendly face trot in carrying a bouquet of roses, and he smiled some, making the nurses squeal a little. Twilight sighed a little. "Wow, you... weren't kidding. People really DO flock to him." She noticed even Fluttershy was staring at the adorable deer boy, her eyes wide and ears forward, anxious to hear him.
Suddenly the three nurses dropped straight down, disappearing from sight. Looking around the bed, there appeared to be a large warbling pink circle where they once stood. From outside they heard a THUMP as the same three nurses were suddenly lying on the outside steps, in a pile, dazed and confused. Suddenly, from the same circle, a figure rose out of it, obstructed by a rather large box of chocolates. From behind popped out Amora, grinning from ear to ear, a pair of thin rimmed glasses upon her beak, the frames marching her brown hair. Mocha gasped and reached for both her and the chocolates, with an excited and youthful voice, "Amora, you're back! <3" With grabby hooves, he managed to hug her from over the side of the bed, the chocolates falling in his lap and on the stuffed bear.
"And now I see WHY people flock to him," Twilight spoke, causing Mocha to squeak a little embarassedly, suddenly hiding his face against Amora's shoulder to disguise his blushing embarassment. "Uh.. sorry to just barge in, but Rose wanted you to have this bouquet, and wishes you the best." His ears perked, and he turned his head to look toward them, nervousness in his tone.
"Y-You mean.. Rosie sent those..?~" Even Twilight had a hard time keeping a straight face against that.. innocent tone. She just nodded a little and held out the bouquet, and he took them quickly, smiling at them gleefully. Amora smiled and took one from the bunch, clipping it free from the stem with her nails, and placed the flower in his hair with care. He smiled at her, giggling a little, and Twilight squeaked nervously, quickly running out of the room with speed that made Rainbow Dash a little jealous.
Everyone just stared at the poof of dust where Twilight once stood, slowly turning to look at each other, as Applejack finally broke the silence. "Yeah.. sorry 'bout that.. so Amora, yer a therapist now? Why aren't'cha there helpin' people an' leavin' the healin' to the doctors an' nurses?" Mocha, meanwhile, had opened the box and slowly began eating the pieces of chocolate insode, squeeing a little at the sweet flavor.
"Well first, uh.. Applejack, right? I'm here because I'm on a break, and thought I'd check in on my little Sweetheart." She flicked her clawed digits through Mocha's hair gently, before she continued, "And you saw why I couldn't leave him with THOSE nurses... I swear, no professionalism in medicine anymore." Mocha smiled and finished a piece of candy before he turned to Amora, nibbling on another.
"S'okie, the doctor said I can leave soon.. it's just a twist, not a break~" Amora smiled and closed the lid on the candies, as the remaining three ponies sighed with relief. He then turned to them and smiled, blushing softly, before he continued, "Thank you for coming to see me.. i-it means alot.. I'm.. not good around people, so.. yeah.." He continued to speak, but it became soft nervous mumbling very quickly.
"Think nothin' of it, sweetie-- er, pardner. Uh.. we should get goin', we got another stop to make. Not includin' findin' Twilight, wherever she disappeared to." Applejack was blushing a bit now, but Fluttershy just trotted right up to the deer boy and pet his little ear softly, smiling and giggling. Mocha watched her curiously, smiling softly, his ear flicking happily against her hoof.
"I see why so many people like you.. you're so nice and gentle.." Fluttershy spoke softly to Mocha, and he suddenly hugged on Fluttershy tightly, smiling wide, which made both her and Applejack squeak in surprise. Fluttershy hugged him back tightly, and sighed happily. Amora watched with surprised glee, not used to seeing Mocha openly be friendly with another person.
"Wow. Hey, you said you want to find your little friend? Hang on..." She raised a paw, a pink dot on one talon, as a pink circle appeared on a wall, and Twilight suddenly fell in from it, extremely confused. Rainbow Dash helped her get back on her hooves, and Twilight sighed a little, embarassed at what happened. The five waved the two off as they walked out the door, shutting it behind them. As they walked down the hall, Twilight was scratching her head frantically, trying to figure out what happened.
"I still don't get it.. What kind of spell would cause that level of.. I-I Mean, nopony is THAT.. It just doesn't make sense.. How?!"
"Believe me Twilight, he was startin' to get t'me too.. but I don' think any spell'd cause That level of.. innocent adorableness.." Applejack glanced around a little nervously as she said it, and Fluttershy just smiled and responded calmly, like it was nothing.
"It was no spell.. he has that animal cutesy-wootsy-ness in his personality.. plus he's really young from what I can tell, which makes it stronger." Foxtrot snickered a little and shook his head, causing the four to turn to him curiously.
"Hey, what's so funny?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You know something we don't?"
"Well... yeah.. I think I remembered something interesting. Apparently, if I'm recalling it right, he's the same age as Amora, and a little older than me." Everyone's jaw dropped, eyes wide, before he comtinued." Yeah, weird, right? I think his birthday's a Leap Year Day. Not sure if this is even a thing, but.. you ever heard of how Leap Year Day ponies and such only have a legitimate birthday every four years?"
Before anyone could respond, a roar of applause and cheer came from down the hall, and the group looked to see what was happening. A hawk hybrid with casts on three of its limbs was shakily standing and walking forward, and everyone was in awe. Upon closer inspection, there was aa familiar looking gray ring beneath him, and a warbling of faint energy around his body. As they squeezed through the peoples, they dound a familiar wolf hybrid, and immediately knew.
Grimm glanced in their direction, and nodded slowly, but kept his focus on the injured hawk. The hawk had managed to walk from the doorway of an open room to Grimm, something that brought him great joy. When he finally reached Grimm, he grabbed his shoulder with his only good arm, front right, and held himself up, speaking in awe-shocked shakiness, "Y.. You did it.. I-I finally walked a-again.. Does th-this mean I can eventually walk again on my own..?"
Grimm made a slow nod before he responded in his deep solemn monotone, "Yes. If you continue to try, eat, practice, and heal, you WILL walk again. I can make a call to High Mage Taffy, have her come to see you too, but it will take time. In the meantime, I want you to do your best to heal on your own. Show me you Want to get better." The hawk, eyes filled with tears, simply hugged Grimm by the neck, and he just bowed his head against the hawk's shoulder, eyes closing.
Everyone was in tears and applauding, even the ponies and Foxtrot at this point. They all walked to Grimm, who was letting the hawk hybrid go and urging him to return to his room, and he accepted, using the gravity field to make his way back, albeit slowly. As they approached, Grimm bowed his head to the group, before he spoke, "I did not expect to see you today... to what do I owe the honor..?"
"Well we were in the neighborhood and stopped by to see Mocha, and... then we saw you helping that hawk guy," Rainbow Dash replied, "What happened to him anyways? Three legs busted?"
Grimm nodded solemnly. "Construction accident. But we were able to administer healing spells to reduce the damage to minor fractures. Still..." He sighed softly, before he continued, "He suffered serious depression after it happened.. he sat in that bed for two weeks, in pain, and barely ate.. he thought he would never walk again. And if I hadn't done what I did, he may not have."
"Now hang on a minute, pardner," Applejack rebutted, "I thought Taffy could heal 'im completely, like he did me. Why di'n't he? Couldn't be that bad now."
"He could, but..." Grimm paused, holding his head high and proud, before he continued, "Under Taffy's guidance, we cannot completely heal them magically. We need to let the bodies heal naturally to some degree, adapt to the healing process. There cannot be a complete magical cure for everything in the world. Some people, like him, need to heal their bodies And their wills, simultaneously. Otherwise... he may suffer other kinds of injuries."
"Wow, I.. I never thought of it that way.." Applejack placed her hat against her chest, before she finished, "I'm mighty sorry.. I just assumed.." Grimm gently took the hat and replaced it on her head, before he slowly walked away, but turned his head back toward her.
"You were given a gift of circumstance, a necessity to continue your life and restore ours. A rare exception with Taffy. And none of us will question it." Before he could continue, the down arrow mark on his cloak began to glow, cycling through every color of the rainbow with a deep hum, and his eyes widened. "This will have to wait. A meeting has been called." Everyone saw that Foxtrot's badge on his cloak did the same with the symbol on it, and nodded toward them both.
"Grimm, let Taffy and Mocha know, they came here without their cloaks. You four, come with me. It's meeting time." Grimm nodded, and a grey ring appeared around him, before he suddenly shot off like a cannon toward the halls. Foxtrot just rolled his eyes. "He loves making horizontal gravity. Don't ever let him fool you." He pulled out a small gold circular crystal, looking into it, and spoke aloud into it. "Attention! For those who do not know, a town meeting has been called! All High Mages report to the Tower immediately!"
Gust smiled and patted the back of a butterfly hybrid gently, guiding him out the door of his office, both of them happy as could be. From the corner of his eye, he suddenly noticed a green round crystal began to glow, and a booming voice came from it. Eyes widening, he grabbed the crystal, threw it in his cloak, and opened a window, his webbed wings spreading as he caught a blast of air and glided out of his office.
Tempesta and Blaze were in the middle of a sparring match, but Blaze had the worst of it, covered in off color bruises, while Tempesta only had a cheek scratch. Blaze dove in to try and land a kick, but Tempesta's ear flicked, and he jumped straight up, dodging the kick and landing behind Blaze, promptly laying a paw on the back of his head. Before Blaze could rebutt, Tempesta stated, "Rain check, hothead. Meeting time." Blaze looked and saw both of their crystals lit up, and grinned wide, spreading his wings and taking off while Tempesta ran, a trail of electricity remaining in his lightning-fast steps.
Rose waved at an elderly couple with a warm smile, having finished making a rose delivery to them. Their youngest daughter had just been given amazing news, and it was definitely warranting a bouquet. She glanced at her cloak and noticed her crystal lit up and cloak began to glow, but was suddenly distracted as Sanskrit blasted past her, leaving an orange vapor trail as he ran. She spread her wings and took off after him, high in the sky, waving to Kaze and Blaze as she joined them in the air a few moments later.
Hunny finished cleaning up the playpen for the children, giggling happily as he stacked the blocks in a special order for everyone to enjoy. Suddenly he noticed the crystal and cloak light up. "Pearl?! Put the kids to naptime! I've been called for a meeting!" From upstairs he heard a female voice shout 'Okay' and he took off, tossing his apron into the coatrack as he flew out the door. A white moth hybrid smiled and closed the door, sighing and shaking her head.
Behind a counter sat the black fox, signing a few documents approving the expansion of a new wing of the bank to allow for monetary exchange from all the lands into their own currency easier. A black crystal glowed and his cloak on his back shimmered lightly, causing No-Name to sigh and grab a separate red crystal, speaking into it. "Goldy? Hold any meetings for the next few hours. I'm being summoned." He promptly dropped the red crystal on his desk, grabbed the black one, and faded into a shadow in his chair, the splash of black suddenly shooting across the room, out from under the door, through the halls, and out into the streets.
Tide trotted slowly toward the tower, pausing as he saw Taffy show up right when he did, and he held the door open for Taffy. Taffy smiled and trotted in, Tide following behind just as Tempesta skidded to a stop, with a sudden burst of orange stopping just behind him, dissolving and revealing Sanskrit, just as an inky black spot whizzed by them both, reforming into No-Name, looking at the two behind him with contempt. But instead of starting anything, he just walked in the door, the other two growling a little as they followed him in.
At the top of the stairs sat the table, an injured Mocha at the white seat, Amora beside him in the pink seat, and Grimm a couple chairs down from Mocha in the gray seat. Taffy smiled and sat at his purple seat beside Amora, Tide taking the blue one beside him. A breeze blew in as Blaze flapped in through a window and landed, followed by Rose, Gust, and Hunny. Hunny took his yellow seat without landing first, giggling and proudly declaring, "Three point landing!~"
Gust slithered to his green chair between Hunny and Tide, giving Tide a friendly scaled fist bump. Blaze retracted his wings and sat at his red chair, and Rose followed up sitting two seats away in her brown chair. No-Name trotted in quietly, followed by Sanskrit and Tempesta, Sanskrit between the two to prevent a fight. Sanskrit made sure to walk with the two until they reached their seats, Tempesta's silver seat between Mocha and Grimm, and No-Name's black seat between Silver and Rose, before walking around and sitting in his own orange chair between Hunny and Blaze.
Just as everyone was settled in, Foxtrot, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy walked in. Everyone turned toward them, before bursting into cheer at their arrival, except No-Name, just watyching them curiously. A pink portal on the floor opened, and four chairs appeared behind the empty gold seat between Blaze and Rose. Trotting to them, the ponies sat in the empty seats as Foxtrot took his, smiling at the group, and sighed softly. "Been a while, eh? Well.. I guess I call this meeting to order.."
All thirteen reached in and touched their colored orbs in front of them, all of them glowing softly in harmony. A circle opened from the center of the table, and a throne rose up, a flourish of long white hair hanging from the back and sides, all connected to the head of King Stardust. When the throne settled in place on the table, he stood, holding his staff, and smiled to the group. "It has been so long since a meeting was called... I hope everyone is well. Including Mocha, obviously, and I wish him a quick recovery." Mocha giggled a little, nodding a little, as King continued. "Now... I called this meeting to get a progress report, and deliver some news. First, everyone, one at a time, please tell me how your areas are faring. Rose? Why don't you begin?"
Rose smiled and stood, before she began, "The agriculture section is doing well. Thanks to Tide cleaning the water so well and making sure everyone helping redig the trenches, as well as the farmers in town help with their own gardening, we have officially pulled enough food to allow everyone to eat, with plenty to spare as an emergency supply." She sat back down, and King smiled.
"Fantastic, thank you. Now, Grimm, Taffy, how are the people adapting to their new bodies?"
Taffy stood first. "Relatively well. A few people are taking longer to.. convert, I suppose, but we are making steady progress, and I'd say roughly ninety percent of the hybrids have converted to living bodies. Grimm is watching the remainders with the utmost scrutiny." As he sat, Grimm stood.
"They aren't showing a desire to stay crystal, though many do like it. I think it is equivalent to how long they are in the bodies as to how long it will take before they convert. As for those that have already, they are adjusting with only minor complications.. going from crystal to living bodies appears to be making them clumsy and a bit shortsighted, since their mentality is still set to indestructible bodies, but they are learning. Slowly." Silver sat, and King nodded.
"Good. Now Amora, Gust, how are their mentalities faring? Any true issues to report?"
Gust stood. "None.. mossst of our casssesss appear to be PTSssD from before the incccident. But, we are handling them in order, and progressss is being made." Amora smiled and nodded, having nothing to add. King sighed happily.
"Admittedly that was a great fear, lifted off my shoulders... and how of the children, Hunny? Are they adapting too?"
"Uh-huh! Most of 'em don't even notice, they just wanna play, eat, nap, same old every day!" Hunny giggled happily, and she gasped. "Oh! Actually, a bunch of the parents are wondering when the school will be open again though!" Sanskrit stood suddenly, straightening his cloak.
"I can answer that one. Thanks to Twilight and the local ponies bringing us the most recent books, the library has been growing and cleaning up its inconsistencies very quickly. If all proceeds accordingly, we should be prepared to teach again in a matter of days. Starting in the library, and moving into the schoolhouse once cleaning has finished. In fact, if Gust and Tide could loan us their time to wash and airdry the building in a flash, it could be sooner."
The two nodded in acceptance, and King grinned. "Such quick teamwork too... I am overjoyed. Now... How goes the training of our guards?" Tempesta stood first, to Blaze's irritation.
"Progress is... slow. Most of our volunteers are simply looking for an aggression outlet more than defending the people, but thanks to Blaze's strict coaching and... bizarre take on motivational speaking, we are seeing progress. Formations are tightening, skills are sharpening, and if progress continues, with my support, we should have an organized group within weeks." Blaze grinned and gave Tempesta the closest thing to a thumbs-up he could manage, as Tempesta sat back down, King sighing softly.
"I hate to see anything violent growing standardized.. but, the people insist we have a defensive group just in case, so... it is requested by the people, for the people, I suppose. Now... No-Name... how of the financial situation?" No-Name stood, clearing his throat, and pulled a few written papers out of his cloak pocket, a few groaning at how long they expected him to take with this.
"The monetary systems of the outer lands have severely changed... their currencies have lost value, significantly, to where an additional zero has been added to all their unit prices... That being said, our own currency, Doppels, are apparently an incredible rarity to the outside, so much so that many exchange it for extremely higher amounts of their own currency. It took effort, but I found the exchange rates for all of it, and have created a chart to be distributed so everyone knows what is worth what.Ironically enough, our disappearance for so long has made us very, Very rich. But, we will be keeping this a secret from the town, for now, and will slowly be creating a system of price on our own commodities for everyone to afford, as well as fixed pay amounts for everyone, just like before. We will be doing exceedingly well, for a very long time." He sat, and King stared at him.
"You... seem to be enjoying your role a bit too much... but keep up the good work, I suppose. And of course, Mocha, I again wish you a speedy recovery. I have heard you will be walking again within a few days?" Mocha amiled and nodded, nomming on another piece of the candy Amora gave him. "Wonderful. Once the money system is in circuit, I expect you to work hard. You'll be very busy. And last, but certainly not least, Foxtrot... how have the people been faring in adapting to everyday life again?"
Foxtrot smiled and stood, clearing his throat. "There have actually only been minor complaints of some crowding, but our construction teams are expanding further into the mountains to accomodate the guests we have now. The adults are adapting, the seniors are invigorated with the new lands, and the children seem indifferent, as Hunny stated." King smiled and turned back to the group.
"Then it sounds as if progress is developing smoothly. Let's move on to--"
Foxtrot interrupted him. "Uh.. sir? There's one more thing, and I think you'll find it's very important."
King turned to him, surprised. "Very important, you say? Well then, what is it?"
Foxtrot smiled and sighed happily, clearing hos throat nervously. "Well, I was intending to keep it a secret for a bit longer, but I feel this is an appropriate time. I checked our town's citizen numbers, and well... we will need to increase the count." Everyone stared at him confused, except Rose, who just grinned.
"What do you mean?" King asked, stunned.
"Well... we have done investigaing on a bizarre sickness a few females were struck with, but upon closer inspection... we have found five new citizens t3hat will be coming to our town. Five very young ones, in fact. We have confirmed five women in the land who appear to be preparing to have new babies. Including my own wife. I'm... I'm going to be a father."