Rather than immediately opening the music box I turned it over in my hands for a solid minute, mentally debating whether to go through with what I had in mind. Eventually I sighed and tossed the music box up into the air and caught it, pocketing it as I made my way back inside, hunting around in the dark for a few select items and returning to the balcony once more when I had gathered them. I took a small wooden tablet, resting up upon my crossed legs as I went about readying the letter that I had chosen to write out, then when I was ready to write I waited some more, thinking on how to word this letter, before eventually putting pen to paper.

Princess Twilight Sparkle, sovereign of the Ponyville Province of Equestria*

I have no misconceptions about how you will feel reading these words, which is why I have opted to write instead of attempting to communicate with you through more direct methods as before. It will also allow me to perhaps explain my actions better than speaking in person would allow.

I will first wholeheartedly apologise for my actions towards yourself, I have no excuse that could even begin to justify my decorum, save that it was entirely caused by fear and desperation brought about by the situation at hand, and for that I would humbly offer aid to yourself in future matters in any way possible, though I wouldn’t blame you if you instead opted to file a restraining order against me**.
If it does make you feel better I came out of the sorry incident an arm and an eye lesser for it, so I suppose that’s Karma.

I never wished for things to unfold as they did, and in many ways I feel as though I have been thrust into a situation where no matter what direction I travel it will only make things worse and had I the option to give up this power and live in some secluded spot away from this maddening world I would gladly do so.

Not sure if I’ll ever understand my place in this world.
Onælan.

*I will come clean and claim complete ignorance as to the correct form of your title, or indeed how it stands
**can a princess write restraining orders for themselves or do they need a court judge to do it for them?

P.s. do please send my regards to the other princesses, and tell them that I wish them prosperity after the events that were unfolding when I first met them.

With a sigh I placed the quill down and lifted the scroll, inspecting for any damp spots of ink. It had been a learning curve to make use of the quill, and I found it a struggle for much of the time compared to the more organised typing, but it was a necessary skill in this world. I was slow and methodical in wrapping up the scroll and binding it, and I held it in my hands for a while.

Octavia had explained to me that the binding was the spell that would send the scroll upon its merry way. It’s known among pony kind that dragons’ breath has the power to imbue magical spells, and this system worked in a similar manner, the intent and action of the spell is woven into the flammable yet stable fabric of the binding, and that spell lays inert until such a time as the binding is ignited. Upon ignition two secondary spells would activate, the first protects the scroll from being scorched, whilst the second injects just a little bit of magic, stored in the fabric, into the flame, converting it from raw un-arcane fire to dragonfire and allowing the spell to be carried out to its completion.

I rose to my feet, holding the scroll in my hands as I looked out over the now sleeping city, then without a second thought I snapped my hand, igniting a flame that hovered just above my fingers. Touching the flame to the scroll binding I brought the scroll closer and muttered the name and location of the recipient before blowing, sending the scroll into the ether in a flash of green fire.

With that loose end tied up for the moment, I opted to retire for the night. Octavia stirred slightly as I crawled back under the covers, but only to pull me closer as sleep finally found me.

Puffs of ash rose from the ground, kicked up by Helryx as she walked through the site of a battlefield of not long past. Recent enough that some bodies had still remained, little more than charred husks. Two equine factions had fought against each other it seemed, and the defending side had triumphed...barely, but this mattered not to the ancient toa, she was in search of a very different quarry.

She had picked up the trail of the human some days previous and kios south of here, from the tracks they had been travelling with a small group, likely slaves, though one set of tracks in particular had stood out, it was familiar…

“Looking for something, old one?” a voice called, Helryx whirled around with her weapon raised and her command over the surrounding water a mere thought away. Facing her was a toa of air, young compared to her. Though he felt familiar, she regarded him with suspicion all the same.

“What’s it to you?” she asked simply

“I might have the answer to your questions” he replied, cryptically

“I seek a human” she said “he passed by this way, not so long ago” the toa of air hummed

“Yes, I travelled with them”

“You traveled with a human?” she parroted incredulously.

“As far as humans go, he certainly isn’t the worst” the toa said “he is Wrakjon now, granted the powers of fire by Fantasia” Helryx snorted.

“Believing in the gods of mortals now, are we?” she chided.

“I accept the Alicorn’s existence” he said, giving a shrug “the matter of what she is is debatable, but I acknowledge her existence, as should you. Regardless, the human is marked by her, and if her ways are anything to go by she will have big plans for him”

“And what do you make of these plans?” Helryx asked.

“In time they shall come to light, but for now he and the other wrakjon with him are just finding their feet” he said “the human is brash, quick to resort to less peaceful means, and often voicing ideas beyond his or anyone else's capabilities, but he is also a reserved sort, he doesn’t make small talk easily and if given the choice he will isolate himself, listening to strange music” that confused the Toa of water, in her experience Humans were simple savage barbarians, if what this toa of air was saying was true then this suggested a surprising amount of sophistication.

“Is he dangerous?” Helryx asked.

“No more than a young dragon” the toa responded “his heart is in the right place, he fears for what the Heimutian ruler might be doing to the people of the lands recently taken under its banner, but he is young and inexperienced, he uses his powers like a child testing its boundaries, and when he discovers his limits it can be...messy”

“Where did he go from here?” she asked.

“He was injured in this fight, badly, and he was taken captive by the attacking army along with those accompanying him” he explained “Last I heard they were headed for the capital of Heimutia” at this he jerked a thumb behind him, leading north, Helryx pondered this for a few moments, before nodding.

“Thank you, stranger, I will find my own way from here” she said.

“May Mata Nui guide you” came to toa of air’s reply, causing her to stop and turn around, regarding the toa with a dark, piercing gaze

“Mata Nui forsook our kind millenia ago” and with that she carried on, Only when she was out of earshot did Lesovikk voice his response.

“He never forsook us, we damned ourselves when we abandoned unity”

Author's Note

Revision log (01. 04. 2022): this chapter used to have a segment of some 2600 words that ultimately backed me into a creative corner, so it's been pruned to allow me to push the story forward