Chapter 1 : Out of Stalliongrad
Chapter 1 : Out of Stalliongrad
Twilight kept reminding herself that this was for Equestria and Cadance, but the feeling that the decrepit building was seconds away from collapsing with her inside was definitely causing her to reconsider the choice of taking up this task. Three days of running around Stalliongrad only to end up exploring this wreck of an apartment building. Not exactly the most pleasant way to spend a Sunday.
Three days prior
“Oh, thank you for coming on such a short notice Twilight!” Cadance smiled at the princess. “I’ve been just swamped with work since that fire broke out in the library.”
The words “fire” and “library” together didn’t exactly excite Twilight. “Oh no! Was it bad? How many books were lost? Did anypony get hurt? Can you salvage the burnt books?”
Cadance raised a hoof to silence the alicorn, who seemed to be willing to keep asking about the state of the library for at least few hours. ”It wasn’t that bad. Don’t worry. But a few rather unique books were lost. Most of the contents have some sort of equivalent in other books, but there were a few spells which were not written down anywhere else.”
“That’s terrible! Is there anything I can do?” Twilight asked, the thought of knowledge being lost causing her a great deal of discomfort.
“Well, that is actually the reason why I asked for you to come here. There’s a unicorn that studied them in the past. I think he might be capable of recreating the instructions. He has proven to be rather elusive though. ” A picture was levitated over to Twilight who grasped it with her own magic. ”Apparently, he was last seen in Stalliongrad. His name is Rubato”
The picture was a portrait of a young unicorn stallion with an off pink coat looking directly at the camera. His dark magenta mane was formed into a single braid hanging over his shoulder. He looked bored out of his skull.
“You can count on me Cadance!” Twilight saluted. “Is there anything else you know about where he is?”
Cadance scratched her chin for a moment. “Last I heard he was staying at Bird Cherry Path 7. It would be a good place to start looking.”
“I’m on the job Cadance.” Twilight walked towards the exit of the library. “See you soon!”
She didn’t see the concern on Cadence's face.
***
What Twilight had expected to be a quick little errand ended up being a ghost hunt across Stalliongrad. Quite a few had seen and even met him, but nobody had any idea where he has now. Elusive was a bit of an understatement. Finally, on the third day, she had met a pleasant mare who claimed her employer knew Rubato.
Her employer had turned out to be the mistress of a rather high-end brothel, or “house of courtesans” as she herself had referred to it.
“Rubato? He has visited us on occasion. A delightful stallion.” She had smiled when talking about him.
Seeing Twilight's slightly shocked face the mare had attempted to calm her. “No, no, not in the way you think. He has been a sort of...consultant? And an utmost gentlestallion at that.”
It didn’t really help.
But at least she had given Twilight an address. An address that had led her to a crumbling apartment building.
Back in the present
“Hello, there!” An upbeat voice came from behind Twilight, causing her to jump a bit.
She turned around and found herself facing a unicorn mare about her age with a bag of groceries levitating next to her.
“Hello?” Twilight felt a bit surprised to meet another pony in such a remote and unpleasant location.
“Are you here to see Rubato?” The mare seemed rather nice.
“Well, actually I am. How did you know?” The whole situation seemed kind of out of place in this dark and depressing location.
“Nopony comes here for any other reason. Come on, I’ll show you where we live.” The mare passed Twilight.
“We? Are you his marefriend...or wife?” Twilight followed the mare.
Her guide laughed for a moment.”Oh, Celestia no. As if Rubato could live with only one.”
The two climbed to the third floor and headed down the hallway. At least five ponies passed them during their walk, all of them moving between the many apartments.
“Heya, Brass!” A few of them greeted her.
Soon the two mares stopped before one of the identical apartment doors. Brass opened them.
“Rubatooo! You have a visitor.” Brass called into the seemingly empty apartment while setting down the groceries on a table.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m coming.” A sleepy voice called from one of the rooms.
“Well, I’ll leave you alone. I hope I see you around some more.” Brass turned to leave, but not before winking at Twilight.
Twilight was left alone for a few moments. She began observing the apartment. Despite the fact that the building seemed to have been abandoned for a few years the interior was in a surprisingly acceptable condition. There was barely any furniture, but the pieces that were there seemed to have been well looked after.
Rubato entered the room with a silent groan. ”Good day, Your Grace.”
The pony standing before her was definitely Rubato, but there were a few differences from the picture. Dark rings decorated his face, sitting underneath the pair of purple eyes. His mane seemed even longer than in the photo and was falling freely instead of being collected into a braid. The ends were curling upward, adding to the slightly disheveled appearance.
Next to him was a pegasus stallion looking just slightly less disheveled as Rubato. He planted a kiss on the unicorn's cheek and left the room.
“Good day, Rubato.” Twilight greeted the unicorn while looking at the departing pegasus.
A short moment of awkward silence followed.
“So, what has caused one of the Princesses of Equestria to go running around Stalliongrad in search of little old me? The rumor mill has being working at full capacity.” Rubato moved towards the table and pulled out a can of soda out of the grocery bag.
“Do you want one?” He looked back at Twilight.
“No, thanks.” Twilight waved her hoof in refusal. ”I’m here because Princess Cadance asked me to help with restoring the Crystal Library. She told me that you might be capable of recreating the instructions for a few unique spells.”
“Cadance, huh? Surprised she left me alone for this long.” Rubato sighed. “I suppose we can’t let knowledge go to waste.”
The stallions mentality excited Twilight. “Exactly! To lose such a magnificent repository of know-”
“Yeah, yeah I get it.”Rubato interrupted her. “Give me a moment to get ready.”
He moved back into the room he had emerged from.
This felt quite anticlimactic for Twilight. The whole thing seemed too easy. The stallion had taken three days to find and now he hadn’t so much as seemed to be slightly inconvenienced by the idea of packing up and going to a city halfway across Equestria. Sounds indicating the use of magic came from the room as items were being shifted around.
“Ow! Son of a-” The voice of Rubato reached her.
“Are you alright?” Twilight couldn't help but feel slightly concerned.
“I’m fine.” A note of annoyance could be heard in his voice.
A few more minutes passed before Rubato emerged again. His mane had been braided and his coat brushed. A pair of saddlebags were resting on his back. He moved to the window and looked outside cautiously. From this angle, Twilight got a good look at his cutie mark. An inverted, deep red heart with rose thorns weaving around its sides.
“How long until the next train?” He asked without turning towards Twilight.
She fumbled with her own saddlebags for as second before pulling out the schedule. ”Forty-three minutes.”
Rubato nodded.”Okay, we can make it.”
Then Twilight felt the familiar sensation that came along with being teleported and found herself standing outside, before the building. She was about to ask Rubato why he had chosen to take such a hasty exit but was briefly silenced as she noticed something out of place. The air around Rubato seemed to shimmer as though it was incredibly warm. The unnatural shimmer faded in a few seconds.
Twilight pushed her questions about it to the back of her mind. “Why did we need to teleport? The building does have stairs, you know.”
“Because I don’t want to fight my way out of here.” Rubato didn’t waste much time and started walking at a brisk pace.
“What?” The young alicorn was quite confused about why they would need to do such a thing.
“My dear friends back in the house wouldn’t exactly take quite well to me leaving them after such a long time in my company.” The stallion spoke quickly.
“But why-” Twilight began her question.
“Once we’re on the train I’ll answer all of your menial questions. For now, try walking faster tubby .” Rubato was definitely annoyed.
“Excuse me?!” The remark had been quite unexpected.
“You’re excused. Move your legs.” The stallion didn’t pay her any attention.
“I’m rather fit I’ll have you know.” Twilight was having trouble letting it go.
“Good for you. And for Celestia's sake- walk faster.” Rubato was moving quite a bit ahead of the princess.
The alicorn huffed and obliged.
The two soon found themselves on the main street of Stalliongrad. It didn’t take long for Twilight to notice something was a bit off. As they passed ponies began behaving quite differently. The occasional couple wrapped their hooves around each other and started making out for all to see. Ponies standing alone threw sultry glances towards Rubato and Twilight. The message in their eyes was rather clear. A few other lonesome ponies quickly moved towards each other and struck up conversations. The blushes and mildly lustful looks they gave each other told Twilight all that she needed to know about their intentions.
“Rubato?” She turned her head towards the unicorn.
“Later. Walk.” He didn’t avert his gaze from the road.
Twilight tried to ignore what was unfolding around her.
“RUBATO!” An angry shout brought the stallion to a sharp stop. Twilight stopped a few steps ahead of him.
He took a deep breath and turned around. Twilight followed his example and found herself staring at a sizable group of ponies with an expression of hurt rage on their faces. The mare named Brass was among them.
Rubato conjured up a strained smile on his face. “Hello, my dear friends. Whatever seems to be the problem?”
The shimmer was once again becoming visible around Rubato.
“You’re leaving us! And for what? Her?” The pegasus stallion from earlier pointed a hoof towards the princess. “What does she have that’s so special?”
“I guarantee that our relationship is purely professional Stratus.” Rubatos voice was calm, but the shimmer continued to intensify.
“After all this time you’re just abandoning us?” A mare said with tears in her eyes.
“Bluegrass, please don’t make this any harder than it-” He didn’t finish his sentence and unleashed the power he had been gathering. The shimmer around Rubato shot towards the angry mob.
Twilight felt the mass of energy barreling through the air towards the group. Even from this distance, it was the magical equivalent of standing too close to a massive bonfire. She inadvertently took a step back to escape the assault upon her arcane senses.
Once the attack reached the group there was no flashy explosion or anything of the sort. The shimmer lingered in the air before apparently being drawn within the ponies. Rubato collapsed to the ground.
Twilight rushed over to the stallion and helped him up. Judging from the panting one would have assumed he had just run a marathon. Twilight noticed that something was different instantly. His mane and tail had changed color.
While one side remained almost the same, only turning slightly lighter, the other had faded to a tone of yellow so light it was almost white, with only the roots retaining their original coloring. Once he turned his face to her another discrepancy presented itself. Rubatos eyes had turned mostly light green, with slowly spreading spots of purple.
“What happened?” The mare was rather upset by the rapid change in his appearance.
“Later. It won’t last too long. Hard to fill an already full vessel.” He grunted and managed to regain his footing.
Then the moans reached them. Twilight turned her eyes back to the mob only to find herself frozen in place as an orgy unfurled before her eyes. Their faces were filled with ecstasy and sheer, unrestrained lust. Some ponies from the street were joining in as well. Some of the positions seemed anatomically impossible. Something like this she had only read about when it came to the decadence of a few ancient groups. But that had been achieved more by drugs, a hefty lack of restraint and a radically different culture not by one rather tired looking unicorn.
She would have probably remained standing stiff as a board if Rubato hadn’t begun pulling her down the street. Twilight managed to shake off the shock and turn around to follow the rapidly pacing unicorn.
The princess remained silent for the rest of the walk, only throwing the occasional glance at the unicorn whose mane was slowly returning to its original tone.The station was rather empty so they managed to get their tickets without much waiting. They boarded the train quickly and sat down. Rubato remained silent, staring empty-eyed out of the window even as the train began moving.
Twilight finally decided to break the silence. “I would like an explanation.”
“Ask away.” The unicorn's tone seemed distant as if he was only barely paying attention to the world around him.
It took a few seconds for the alicorn to decide which of the countless questions, to begin with.
“What did you do to them? And why did that happen to you?” She pointed at his mane.
“I, uh, unloaded all my aura on them. I guess that’s a way to explain it. And this?” He briefly touched his mane. “Lack of magic in the body reveals the natural pigmentation.”
Twilight briefly processed the information. The pigmentation part was clear to her. It wasn’t unheard of ponies changing mane and coat color when large amounts of magic were forced into their bodies. She and her friends had been rather good examples of that during the Tirek incident. For such a change to be permanent though, one would constantly have to quite a large surplus of energy.
“What do you mean, aura?” She continued her interrogation. “Was that the shimmer?”
“Practically the same answer. Surplus of magic. Leaks out. And, yes, it becomes briefly visible if I use magic.” Rubato finally turned away from the window. His eyes now had just a few small spots of green left in them.
“Okay, I can understand that. But why would it do...that to them?” The young princess rubbed her forehead with her hooves.
Rubato gave her a tired grin.”It's what I do. It’s what I am.”
Twilight began rapidly connecting the dots in her brain as her suspicions became more and more plausible.
“Are you by any chance related to Princess Cadance?” She asked him.
The stallion let out a laugh. “Look who gets it! Took you long enough.”
“But then why did they start, umm, doing that in the middle of the street? Also why the reactions from the ponies on the street?”
Rubatos smile slowly disappeared and he sighed.”Alright. Let's see here. I am obviously related to Cadence quite closely. My cutie mark is incredibly similar to hers. Now the ponies on the street didn’t start just going lovey-dovey on each other. And then there is the whole schtick with the mob. Whatever might I do to ponies Your Grace? If there is a Princess of Love there should be a-” He motioned towards Twilight to finish the sentence.
“Prince of...Passion?” She was a bit unsure which word to choose.
Rubato nodded in approval. “Very good. You can leave the Prince part out though.”
“So you’re her brother?” Twilight was beginning to see some minor similarities in their facial structure.
“The older one at that. By five minutes if I remember correctly.” Rubato scratched the underside of his muzzle for the last part.
“Then...why doesn’t something similar happen around her? You know, with the aura.” Twilight's curiosity was still not satisfied.
This seemed to have hit a rather vulnerable part as Rubatos facial expression turned sour. “She gets a horn and some Earth pony abilities that suck up the surplus. Celestia hasn't deemed me acceptable to become an alicorn so I get to deal with this from day to day.”
“Don't you have any other ways of getting rid of the magic?”
“I suppose I could make it do the whole “blowing in an invisible breeze” thing.” Rubato shrugged. ”That doesn’t really take much power though.”
A brief silence descended upon the pair.
“Will they be alright?” Twilight tried to calm her concerns.
“The friendly neighborhood mob?”
Twilight nodded.
Rubato just waved his hoof.”Sure. It will be a few days until all of my magic works its way out of their systems. They have been living around me for a while after all. They’ll have a few jealous outbursts, some bouts of crushing sadness and loss, and then the whole thing will seem a bit like dream.”
This helped Twilight calm down a bit even if the whole sadness and loss thing didn’t sound too pleasant.
The whole thing did still seem a bit like a dream. Here she was, apparently with the elder brother of Cadance. A stallion who had some weird passion-sex field going on around him and had just caused an orgy in the middle of Stalliongrad. Everything had gone by so quick that she was still having trouble processing some of her emotions.
Rubato meanwhile was busy settling in for a nap.
“Rubato?” Twilight asked.
“Hmmm?” He cracked open one eye.
“Why am I not acting like the ponies on the street?”
“Alicorn, natural resistance, maybe the Elements or something. Maybe something more. Good night.” He was snoring silently barely a minute later.
He definitely looked quite different when he was sleeping. Somehow....older.
Twilight closed her eyes as well and slowly drifted off to sleep. It was a long way to the Crystal Empire.
Author's Note
Well after around 4 years of sitting on my ass I've finally decided to start writing again. Criticism is greatly appreciated since I've gotten a tad rusty.
