The Changeling of Illusions

After a few hours, Aurelic finishes dividing and shaping the quartz into usable pieces, placing the enchantments and testing them inside the tube. The first few don't work, and one even cracks, leaking out the enchantments. But one final, glorious little sample is placed into the tube. Then, Aurelic tests it. Suddenly, a brilliant lavender beam expands from the center of the tube, appearing to stop a good thirty-two inches out. Aurelic's eyes widen in disbelief.

"It... it works... YEAHAHAAAA!" He proceeds to prance around the newly brought into existence lightsaber briefly, looking at it closer. "Purple... Or more lavender? Like... the element of magic? Huh, go figure." He thinks aloud, picking up the cracked crystal and tossing it in the air, bringing the blade to meet the defective crystal. What little bits managed to not be completely enveloped by the blade are left with a singed, clean cut. "Excellent, the heat barrier works like it needs to. Object passes through the one way heat barrier, and on the inside, the plasma completely disintegrates everything within its field. Keeps the heat in so everything in close range doesn't spontaneously combust. Like harnessing a fraction of the sun's power. And even better, without the material for the heat sink, nobody else can replicate it!" He turns the blade off, stashing the saber inside of a hind leg via shapeshifting. "When Sombra returns, he'll be in for a surprise. Light beats shadow, after all..." Aurelic muses, turning back into Forge and heading out of the old twibrary.

-<>~--*--~<>-<

Forge wanders through the Everfree, searching for the poison joke he needs for another side project of his. Joke bombs, a non-lethal way of incapacitating an enemy. I need the pollen, and a way to speed up the reaction. I wonder if Zecora would be interested in helping me with that... Forge thinks as he walks.

A low growling sound snaps him out of thought. It doesn't take long for the timberwolves to reveal themselves. Forge shifts the lightsaber hilt from his leg, igniting the blade. The first wolf lunges forward, only to be met with a wildly swinging plasma beam, the diced remains falling to the ground. "Small, burned bits can't reform like a normal impact that only scatters the pieces... Getting some Transformers Prime Terrorcon vibes here."

The wolves growl, waiting for their fallen comrade to reform. They remain in a standoff there for a good five minutes, until they realize their friend isn't coming back. Forge takes a step toward the wolf in front of him, blade threateningly close to it. The wolves run off, tails between their legs as they flee. Forge switches the saber off, putting it back in his leg.

Eventually, he finds a patch of poison joke, carefully collecting a flower with soil, putting it in a large jar retrieved from his bags. He takes a few more petals from other flowers, putting them in a separate jar, and finally collects some pollen for a final, smaller jar. Using magic to gather these without physical contact is definitely a far safer method of collection.

Forge winces at the sound of a cockatrice cry. He quickly shuts his eyes, shifting the necessary bits of a bat for echolocation. His mind perceives his surroundings as if it was a near-sighted black and white experience. He readies his saber again, the hum of the blade allowing it to be seen via the distortion it causes. That's when the cockatrice makes itself known, staring at Forge in an attempt to turn him to stone. Forge doesn't tolerate any of it, bringing his blade down on the Grogar-spawn mercilessly. Once he's sure it's dealt with, he opens his eyes, turning back to a normal form of Forge.

"What's with all these monsters today?" Forge wonders aloud, only to be met with silence. Satisfied with his findings, he backtracks his way through the forest, collecting the timberwolf remains in another jar on his way out.

-<>~--*--~<>-<

As Forge walks through Canterlot, he notices Featherweight flitting around. "Aw fuck. Gabby Gums time. I'd better hide out in the sculpture garden, he can't find me doing anything embarrassing there." Forge thinks as he teleports to the twibrary, stashes his things, and teleports out to the sculpture garden. He walks around nonchalantly, taking his time to admire the statues and read the plaques. And then, he finds Discord. Forge looks at his stoned form, realizing just how huge Discord in in comparison to a pony. He shakes his head, deciding to move on in his little self-tour of the gardens. Eventually, he sits at a bench, relaxing and admiring the serene quiet of the area. "This is nice. All quiet, peaceful, and relaxing... Enjoy the little things, just like Columbus says."

Forge's ear twitches in the direction of a faint munching sound. He decides to use his illusion magic to become invisible and mute, walking in the direction of the noise. When he pokes his head through the hedge in his path, he sees just how much of a slob Celestia can be when eating her cake. And it's... bizarrely sexual. Judging by the smell Aurelic's changeling senses pick up.

"Celestia, you are one kinky horse..." Aurelic muses. And then, a camera flash startles Celestia, as Featherweight makes his escape. "Damn, Agent 47 would be proud. Then again, castle guards are incompetent as all hell." Aurelic slinks out, heading back up to his room while still using his illusion magic to hide.

-<>~--*--~<>-<

A few days have passed, and the gossip columns continue. Aurelic peruses the stalls of newspapers, remaining completely hidden as he checks for anything about himself. "Nothing, good. As long as I keep disguising myself as Forge when I work, and vanishing in my time off, I can keep avoiding all of this. If ponies found out what I really was too soon... shit would hit the fan almost immediately. Despite my connections with the royal sisters and elements of harmony, it'll still be a fucking slog and a half thanks to pony speceism. I'm going to need to wait just a little bit longer for that, though I'm not sure if it would be better or worse to wait until after the wedding invasion. On one hoof, I could roam freely without fear of discovery. On the other, changelings in Canterlot could take advantage of my situation and screw me over that way... But then after the wedding invasion all changelings would be seen as untrustworthy... Ugh, this is bullshit. Unless... Maybe waiting until after would be a better course of action. It kinda worked out for Thorax." Aurelic decides, looking over the papers one last time. He notices a pony carting more papers out to be stocked. Specifically, stocking the apology and retirement of Gabby Gums. "Oh... Well okay then. To Zecora's hut!"

-<>~--*--~<>-<

After what seems like forever, Forge finds Zecora's hut, knocking at her front door.

Zecora answers the door. "Oh, a new visitor in the Everfree? Come on inside, and speak your inquiry."

Forge walks in. "Hey Zecora, I was wondering if you knew about something that would speed up the effects of a brew?"

Zecora walks back over to her current brew, stirring the cauldron. "Why would you want something so specific, I hope your intent is to make something prolific?"

"If you mean the plant definition, yeah. You see, I want to be able to make the effects near instant, since otherwise it wouldn't be nearly as useful." Forge says carefully.

Zecora narrows her eyes. "What exactly is this concoction for? Is it meant for purposes of war?"

"No, just a novelty type thing. Er... poison joke poppers. I mean, the cure's widely known about by now, so it's not that bad for a prank item, right?" Forge says, anxiety already starting to get to him.

Zecora thinks for a moment. "If what you say is true, then I'll see what I can do. Zapapple trees tend to grow at great speeds, perhaps the answer you seek lies in their seeds?"

Relieved, Forge heads for the door. "Thank you Zecora, guess I need to wait for Zapapple season and ask Applejack about getting me some seeds. I think that's coming up soon... Anyway, see you around!"