Grab Bag of Harmony

“Alright, first order of business. Releasing all the pent-up emotions I have on behalf of literally everything about my life changing in an instant.” I collapsed against the dirt, lied back, and took in a deep breath.

“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHMMY GOSH WHAT IS HAPPENING WHY AM I IN EQUESTRIA WHY DO I HAVE SUPERPOWERS WHAT IF I NEVER GET HOME WHAT ARE MY PARENTS GOING TO THINK THE MANE 6 PROBABLY HATE ME BY NOW I AM A WANTED CRIMINAL AND I DIDN’T EVEN MEAN TO HURT ANYBODY–“ I took a moment to breathe.

“WHY IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY AND KIND IN THE WORLD DID I TELEPORT TO EQUESTRIA AT THE WORST POSSIBLE MOMENT AND WHY DOES MAGIC FEEL LIKE A FLUFFY BLANKET THAT I JUST REALLY WANT TO HUG!?”

I took plenty of deep breaths, and sat up. “Alright. Calm time. Everything has gone wrong, but this can still be salvaged. I can probably change into pony-mode and blend into the world. Or, I could try and apologize to Twilight and the others. Or… I could do whatever the crap I want because gosh dangit if life is going to spit me out in a situation like this, then I will spit right back at life.”

I stood up, and looked to the sky dramatically. “From now on, Blake Dunn answers to no-one!” I clapped my hands together, thinking.

“Second order of business, or is this the third? Either way, I need a plan. Since the wedding just happened, Sombra is next. Keeping a watch on the north is a must-do. Next, Discord is going to be reformed, and possibly used against me if I get too crazy. Then Twili-corn, then plunderseeds, then Tirek, then Starlight. Hmm. Magic stealer against magic stealer, that could be interesting.”

I pulled my power card from my pocket, and started to think of possible power combos. “Okay, so using Wraith Physiology, I can essentially become a ghost, which can let me spy on the Mane 6, and whoever else. I’ve already figured out how to teleport using Aether Manipulation, and how to shape shift with Ink Mimicry.

“But what about Tactile TK, and Mode Switching?” I walked over to a tree, and grabbed it. I pulled it from the ground quite easily, and spun it on my palm. “T TK is good, now for Mode Switching. I figure that I’m currently in a normal state. Lets pull a Deoxys, and go with attack, speed, and defense.”

I willed myself to take on an agility form, and smiled when my whole body became ink, in the form of a quadruped, sleek creature. I had a long, thin tail, and legs that closely resembled spikes instead of hooves or paws. I felt a set of inky antlers, like some kind of cervine. I tried running, and was happy to find that I was, in fact, very fast.

I switched to defense, and my body became a thick bipedal form, not unlike a gorilla. My arms were trunk-like, and reached the ground with a collection of thick fingers. My feet were also hand-like, adding to that gorilla look. As I moved around, I realized that this form was a massive amount slower than my normal, and agility forms, of course.

I finally switched to an attack form, and shivered when my ink was done reshaping. I was a large quadruped again, but this time I was similar to a large wolf. I had a long, fluffy tail that ended with twin spikes, legs with inky barbs on them, and sharp claws. I had spiraling horns on my head that faced forward. The attack form was slower than the agility form, but still faster than my normal form.

I shifted back to normal, and nodded. “Alright, all of my powers are working. Not sure about all my sub powers though, and I probably don’t want to exhaust myself.” I then realized that I could feel a small section of power in me. It felt unfamiliar, so I figured that it was Twilight’s magic. “And I probably don’t want to exhaust that either.”

I focused on my powers, and felt myself lift of the ground. I raised myself higher, over the treeline. To one direction was Canterlot, which I should probably avoid, and the other direction was Ponyville, which I should probably avoid. Probably.

——————

“So, no sign of that creature?” The Elements of Harmony, a dragon, and the Princesses were all in the castle medical ward, standing next to the hospital beds of Twilight Sparkle, Cadence, and Shining Armor. Twilight was still unconscious from her encounter with that strange creature, Cadence was malnourished from her time in the crystal caves, and Shining was recovering mentally from being controlled.

Princess Celestia looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was staring at Twilight solemnly. “No, I’m afraid not. All we’ve heard about it since the invasion was a note from a pair of guards that first encountered, and arrested it. The creature claimed to not know how it got here. If that is the case, then we should look into a way to send it back to it’s own world.”

Rainbow looked at her, and scoffed. “First, we get it to give Twilight her magic back. Once she wakes up, and realized that she’s lost that part of her, she’ll be devastated. She loves magic as much as I love flying.”

Rarity shook her head. “I can’t imagine what I would do without my magic. I don’t have the hoof dexterity required to work a needle like my magic can. I would have to change my entire way of life, it’d be the worst possible thing.”

Celestia nodded. “I will, of course, try to get it to restore her magic. Once that is done, though, I will search for something that can send it away from here. In the meantime, try and get some rest. After everything that has happened, I am sure that you need it.”

The Elements nodded, and made their way out of the room. Spike paused for a moment, staring at Twilight, then followed the others. Celestia and Luna watched them go, then turned back to the beds. Luna bowed her head, and spoke with a shaky voice. “I’m sorry. Tia, I’m so sorry. I could have done something, I could have helped you fight Chrysalis, I could have stopped the ink creature from doing this!”

“Luna, it wasn’t you–“

“Are you serious? It wasn’t my fault? Countless ponies were risking their lives to stop the changelings, and I was sleeping! I slept, and because of that I couldn’t save my sister from getting hurt, I couldn’t save my friend from getting hurt, I couldn’t…” She took a shaky breath, and shook her head. “Ponies died yesterday, Tia. And just like before, I didn’t lift a single hoof to prevent that.”

The room was silent. Celestia wrapped a wing around her sister. “I don’t blame you, Lulu. Nopony does. Everypony makes mistakes, even immortal beings like us. I have a firm belief that every mistake can eventually be fixed, even something as large as attempting to create eternal night, or ignoring your pupil, to something as small as hitting your horn on a doorway.”

Celestia frowned. “She probably is furious at me. I should have listened to her, or at least checked Cadence to make sure she was the real one. Instead, I pushed her away when she most needed help. Everypony makes mistakes, sister. There will come a time when those mistakes can be fixed, I promise you that.”

Luna smiled, and leaned into her sister. “Thanks, Tia, for being here for me.”

“Always, Lulu.”

——————

“I probably shouldn’t be here.” I floated by a guard. “I probably shouldn’t be here.” I dodged a pony passing by. “I really shouldn’t be here.” I saw five ponies and a dragon walk out of the castle. They all looked overcast, and I knew exactly why. I touched Twilight’s magic inside of me, and sighed.

Now I just needed to find Twilight. I floated into the castle, and let some of Twilight’s magic loose. A small strand of purple energy floated from me, and began to drift down the hallways. I followed it around corners, through doors, and into a very white part of the castle. Medical ward, most likely.

The magic strand made it’s way through a closed door, marked for royalty. I floated through, and gasped. In front of me were Celestia, and Luna, in all their intimidating glory. The small strand passed them, and floated into Twilight’s horn. I saw the two princesses tense up.

Luna looked to Celestia. “Sister, was that what I think it was? A strand of Twilight’s magic?”

Celestia nodded. “I believe so. But where did it come from, if that ink creature took it? Did he release a small amount on accident?”

Luna’s expression darkened. “What if he released it on purpose? He could have followed the strand as it traveled, in order to find Twilight, and take the rest of her magic.”

I scoffed from my position in the air, dropping my invisibility. “That’s only half correct. And offensive. I already said, in front of the Elements, no less, that it was an accident.”

Celestia glared at me.“You nearly killed her by stealing her magic, which is a highly advanced spell known only by my sister and I. You can’t just ‘accidentally’ steal magic. What you can do, is give it back. It is not yours to keep, or consume.”

“Pfht, obviously! It’s stolen magic, of course it’s not mine. And I’ve made special care not to use any of her magic reserves. And that’s why I’m here, to give it back.” I let my grip on Twilight’s magic dissipate slowly, and watched as a large river of magic flowed from me into Twilight’s horn. She stirred slightly.

“Boom. No harm done, I hope. And my name is Blake, not ‘ink creature’. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go explore. Ciao!” I went invisible again, and floated out the window. I rushed faster as Celestia lit up her horn, and began sweeping the area with a magical light, likely looking for me.

I floated back down to the ground, and began looking for the rest of the Elements, to apologize to them, too. I eventually spotted Rainbow’s mane, and Pinkie’s… everything. They both stood out like reflective tape on Halloween night. I floated down to the group.

Once they got somewhere that was free of the crowd, I let my invisibility drop. “Hello there!”

They all shouted, and threw the situation into chaos. Rainbow dived through me, since I was still intangible. Applejack tried the same with a lasso, who knows where she got it, Rarity screeched like the devil, Fluttershy hid, and Spike coughed out a burst of fire.

When the dust cleared, Pinkie Pie set a cupcake on my head, to everybody’s confusion. Rainbow Dash flew over to the baker. “Pinkie, why did you put a cupcake on the head of the thing that attacked Twilight?”

“Because he’s good, and he gave Twilight’s magic back to her!” They stared at her with varying levels of confusion. “It’s obvious! He has an apologizey look on his face, I heard him sigh while we were leaving the castle, which means that he probably visited Twilight there, and he started with a ‘hello there’! No evil monster starts with ‘hello there’!”

We all stared at Pinkie. “Yep. Pretty much spot on. I just got done restoring Twilight’s magic, and apologizing to the princesses. I saw you guys, and decided to do the same. Hold on, I’m still intangible, how did you put a cupcake on my head!?” I took it off, and stared at the offending pastry.

Pinkie giggled. I nodded. “Right, don’t question it. Well, sorry about Twilight, and I hope you six have a nice day. I’m gonna go now, so see ya later!” I waved, and turned around. I flipped invisibility on as I walked, and smiled.

Alright. Now I didn’t have any guilt weighing me down for things I didn’t mean to do, which was good. Now, I could really start having fun. Time for me to get familiar with Aether Manipulation. I bit into my cupcake, and blinked. That thing was really good!