Mystogan sat in his study with a book in his hand. The custom made armchair to hand his size brought him comfort in his reading time. With glasses resting on his muzzle, he’d turn the page every now and then to progress further in the to me he was reading as the fireplace crackled with burning wood he had gathered just within the Everfree forest. There was nothing like a nice fire and a good book while relaxing in one’s favorite chair. The book he was reading was called ‘The Alchemist’s Cookbook’. He read these kinds of books for both pleasure and knowledge. As all alchemists know, when an alchemist makes a cookbook, it usually means their true works are coded. One example is ‘green tea’ is code for limestone.

As he sat there with his cheek resting on his fist, he sighs and closes the book after placing a bookmark upon the page he had left off. He stands up and slides on other of his shirts before heading up towards the main floor. He grabs his house key and a small bag of bits from a small chest that he keeps his spending money in and grabs his sword, slinging it over his back. He makes his way out of the house before locking the door behind him. He turns and feels the wonderful flow of cool, crisp fall air upon his face and through his mane. He lets out a soft sigh and smiles to himself.

“Aaah,now this is weather I can get used to year round. Not too hot or too cold.”

He makes his way into town to go and see what everyone was doing on a nice day like today. And who should he run into first who recognizes him? Why Pinkie Pie of course. With an exaggerated wave and a full on sprint towards the giant, she wraps her arms around his waist as she leaps at him with a tight hug, nuzzling her cheek into his torso. She ran so fast, that the dirt cloud she left behind had only just started to disperse.

“Hey there, big guy! It’s not often we get to see you wandering outside unless it’s for work! Good to see you nonetheless!”

She said before finally releasing him and looking up at him with her big blue eyes, her tail wagging ninety miles an hour at how happy she was to see him out and about. Mystogan just flashed her a smile and nodded as he watched to ponies go about their business, doing their day to day activities and jobs. He then noticed that Pinkie had left quite a hefty stack of boxes just a bit a ways from them. He walked over to the boxes and picked all of them up in one of his arms and walked back to her side.

“Making a few deliveries? I’d be happy to help carry them for you. I got nothing to do today anyway.”

She gasps and looks up at him with thankful eyes. Bouncing up and down excitedly which made certain parts of her bounce and jiggle. And Mystogan’s eyes fell upon those very parts.

“You’d really do that for me?! Are you sure that it is no trouble??”

He shook his head lightly and smiled a quick smile. Effortlessly carrying the multiple boxes of sweet in his arm as he reassured the energetic mare. After which, they set off to go and deliver the goods to the ponies that had made their delivery orders, collected the bits, and returned to Sugarcube Corner. She stood in front of him with a very happy and grateful expression on her face.

“Hey Myst, lean down for a moment, I got a surprise I want to give you~. But you need to close your eyes when you do!”

He blinked a few times and did as she said. She then took hold of his jaw in both her hands and plants a kiss upon his lips before pulling back with a heavy blush upon her face. She let out an adorable giggles before heading inside.

“Thanks, big guy~. Perhaps you can help me bake next time!”

With that, she ran inside the bakery to get started on her next project, leaving the stallion blinking a few times before shaking himself back to reality. He sighed, but was happy with the surprise he was given. Soon, he made his way off again to go and find something else to occupy his time with.

“She’s a sweet mare. I just hope she doesn’t let others take advantage over that. Both her and Flluttershy have such open kindness which could get them in some serious trouble.”

He said as he made his way further out of town. Once he was on the outskirts, A rainbow flash zips around him before Rainbow Dash lands in front of him with one of her usual over to top entrances. Mystogan crosses his arms in defiance showing that he isn’t so easily impressed. Or maybe it was simply because he liked to tease ponies who thought that just because they had some talent they think it’s the best thing since sliced bread.

He noticed that she was in exercise gear. Tight black and white gym shorts and top covered slightly in sweat from her work out. She smiled up at him before approaching him and lightly punching him in the stomach, since she really couldn’t reach much else without taking flight.

“Well look who decided to come outside today! When are ya gonna give up being a nerd and put those muscles and wings of yours to good use?! You’d make an amazing guard!”

“Well Dash, alchemy is more than just reading and studying. It gives me the advantage to create spells from items and ingredients that a unicorn could normally cast. So while I am limited to the amount of times I can use those abilities, I also got my flight and strength. So one could say I am well versed in all three area. Unlike you who only masters in flight~.”

He said before taking one of her wings and playfully tugging on one of them. She blushes from the contact but quickly slaps his hand away from the wing and scoffs at him which made the larger pony chuckle.

“H-Heeyy! Leave my wings alone!”

Mystogan chuckled lowly and released her wings before flaring his up to show them off. He even went as far as crossing his arms to act intimidating. Not that he needed to act it.Dash’s face was in awe for a moment before she shook her head a few times to get out of the visual spell he had placed upon her.

“THESE are wings, small pegasus. Sure, you are faster than I am. But I can reach far greater heights than you and possess greater stamina in both my wings and body. A small streamline mare like yourself would never be able to climb the mountain of which I come from. The subzero temperatures will freeze those little wings off.”

Dash growled lowly in her throat as she glared at him and threw her hands up at him. Apparently with him teasing her about her size and ability sat her off and she flew right up into his face to get to eye level with him. A smile slowly formed from his muzzle, those sharp pearly whites gleaming. She bought it.

“Oh yeah?! How about we take this up in the air and see who can outlast who?! Size isn’t everything you know!”

“Oh yeah? Well since you challenged me, we are going to put you to the test by MY kind’s standards. We are going to stand in front of each other a distance apart and maintain flying sideways in a circle.If yo0u can hold form like that longer than I can. Then you have far better control and stamina than I do.”

Not even thinking, the mare took him up on the rules and poked his chest as she still glared at him. It was clear that the mare was steaming from his words before. But, at the same time she knew he didn’t mean it in a harsh way. It got her pumped, though.

“You’re on! I am gonna make you eat those words you big fluffball!”

Dash stared at Mystogan with a determined glare while his stood there with his arms crossed. He raises a hand above his head before swinging it straight back down to signal the beginning of the challenge. After that, they both leap hard into the air in opposite directions and start to circle in that area which already started to cause a slight whirlwind. They got to a high enough point to where they could hit anyone or anything and maintained that altitude as they circled. Mystogan’s wings carried him just as easily as Dash’s did hers. However, Mystogan picked up the pace which cause the inside of the whirlwind they were in to start pulling at Dash’s much smaller wings. It seemed that due to his sheer size and the gale force of his wings, the smaller mare was already struggling to keep up with the larger mountain pony.As they maintained their speed and rotation, clouds began to swirl closer to them and darken with how quickly they came together. Rain started hitting against their bodies as it seemed neither of the two were ready to give up. The thunder clapped and lightning flashed as they were now rotating within the gathered storm clouds that they had unintentionally brought together. Thankfully both weren’t enough to start a tornado, but in that open field, a rainstorm raged. Ponies from the town took notice of the storm that the two had created and wondered just how in Equestria could a storm gathered up in one spot like that.

“Looks like you are struggling pretty hard there, Small one. You better give up before you get hurt!”

“No way! I won’t lose! I am the best flyer in all of Equestria! I can beat your stupid challenge!”

She yelled back at him. He could see that she was struggling to keep up with him now that the clouds had become so thick as they pulled in more and more with their rotation, the lightning becoming more and more frequent nearly striking them both had they not been mindful of it. This went on for a few minutes longer until Dash felt her wings being pulled out from the sheer force and her whole body was flung out of control. She lets out a scream of terror as she is flung into the thick of the storm, but feels her body slam into Mystogan’s. He wraps his arms around her and flies them both out of the storm. But not before bottling up some of the storm in his magic alchemy bottles on his way out with his other hand.

Mystogan flew both of them to safety away from the storm to a drier part of the field and carefully sat her on the ground before licking his wet mane back to keep it out of his face as it dried. He lets out a laugh and places the bottles he had used into his satchel. He returned his gaze down at Dash who was now soaked through her fur. And those workout clothes clung to her body now more than ever from all the rain that had pelted her form. He knelt down on one knee to make sure that she hadn’t broken her wings from such an exercise. Looking over them carefully, he saw nothing was broken or injured. But she was certainly out of breath as she laid there heavily breathing. But then she just lets out a laugh and a big smile as she spoke.

“That was so much fun! I have flown many many different ways. But not like that! And I can’t believe that you and I gathered a storm together like that! It was aaaawweesooooooome!!”

“Well, sure. You can fly in a circle in a normal flight position. But constantly drifting in a circle while in flight is a whole other critter, Dash. It is how we excel in flight combat. Think of the circle as if it were the ring. And you maintain that circle while fighting your opponent. Should either of you fail to maintain that circle, it could mean lose or even death should your opponent not be so merciful to spare your life. Once your enemy has you in the circle, we have a technique called ‘slicing the pie’. Where we use the momentum of the circle to attack forward and keep spinning, then attack again and spin again. Rinse and repeat. I just wanted to test your stability and see if you can handle such a thing. I had no idea that we’d summon up a storm, however…”

After hanging out with Rainbow Dash a bit longer, they both go their own separate ways. Mystogan was now on the outer edges of Ponyville heading straight into the Everfree forest. He figured while he was out, he’d collect more herbs and plants for his work. An alchemist can never have too many ingredients. He makes his way deep within the forest with his hand on the hilt of his blade ready to go on the defensive and then offensive if it came down to it.

As he walked through the darkened forest, the sound of the wind flowing through the leaves and the sound of the creatures in the woods brought a sense of calmness to the mountain pony. If it one thing he never did when he came in here it was to admire the surrounding lush green and the sunbeams that peaked through the thick canapea. Ity seemed that taking in the area brought him upon one of the large pools of water that were spread about in the forest. And in front of it, balancing on a stick with their head was a familiar zebra. Mystogan smiled as he quietly…or rather as quietly as possible he approached her and leaned against a tree to watch her concentrate on what he assumed was a form of meditation. He admired her form from where he stood. She was so fit but also had plenty of soft curves in the right spots. The sweat glistened from the sunbeams that peaked through. Her body glimmered beautifully in the light as she focused so intently. Though he had been watching her for quite some time, he lightly cleared his throat to get her attention so as to not startle her and cause her injury. She opened up her eyes to see who was standing before her. Her eyes blinked a few times before she spoke.

“Oh my...do my eyes see true? Mystogan, is that you...?”

He shook his head as she rhymed at him again. Having told her that she doesn’t have to always speak to him in such a way. But he nodded as he greeted her with a warm smile and open arms. Knowing full well to expect a hug from her.

“It has been far too long, Zecora. I have missed your company for quite some time.”

The zebra was quick to take herself off her perch and lunged at the mountain pony, wrapping her arms around his torso and squeezed as hard as she could with a hug. Her tail flagged happily behind her as she looked up at him with those beautiful blue eyes of hers.

“Oh my sweet giant, it has been far too long indeed. Have you come searching for something in the forest that you need?”

He shook his head and gently placed a hand upon her head, petting her in an affectionate manner. The happiness apparent in her eyes as he does this for her. Which only made her press into him hard and hug even tighter.

“Well then, you most certainly have to come by my little hut and visit with me.That is, if you have no other place to be…”

She looked up at him with hope in her eyes. He really didn’t have anywhere to go. And he couldn’t say no with that face she was making up at him. So he shook his head and gently took her hand into his much larger one. This made her gasp slightly, but her tail wagged again to show that she didn’t mind this.

“Sounds good. And as I said before, Zecora. You don’t have to rhyme around me. You are perfectly fine with just regular talking. But I don’t mind you doing it every now and then. It’s cute.”

“Oh...I can feel the blood rushing to my face. Let us make haste and head to my place~.”

With that, Zecora lead them both through the forest and to her little home. What was going to
happen during the time that Mystogan was there was certainly what he wasn’t expecting, though...

Author's Note

I figured the song I used with the scene with Dash was suitable enough. Couldn't find any other that would fit. x3

May the darkness grant you peace.