A Wacky Read

"Hm-Mh", Hati nodded after he listened to the Ponies' tales. "You think that's possible?", he asked Rex.

"Why, if she is moving the sun, it would make sense if it was made from magic. Just imagine it had the size of the planet, then who would move whom, really?"

Morty had an idea, "There was even the possibility, that they are stored on the planet somewhere while they are down. Like giant lanterns."

"Hold on a goddamn second!", Hati applied to Applejack, "Does that mean there's one place that has sunlight everyday, and the rest doesn't? If y'all are making the daylight, how are you not ruling this planet?"

Jack didn't know what to reply, "Uhm", but Pinkie knew, "Who said we didn't?"

"Fair enough."

The Ponies had lead the Lizards on a short route around town, until they brought them back to the library. Here they wanted to take a look at the Mirror and some of the books, in hopes to find something about the magic, the sun and the history of the Unicorns.

While Morty and Hati were looking for books, Rex was joined by Glimmer and Rarity by the Mirror, to investigate from there.

Applejack, Pinkie and Fluttershy helped them to translate the books and reach the shelves, while Rainbow was having an eagle's eye on the whole situation. She was soon joined by Krator, who had it out for her.

"This Mirror, it usually leads to a set place?", Rex asked the two mares by the Mirror. He checked on the detail this time but still, nothing had changed since yesterday. The Mirror was dead and its magic drained. How and by whom, he couldn't tell yet.
In a cosmos this empty and dead, there were many places for error.

"Yes", Glimmer smiled, "I mean, probably. I've only used it once but Twilight tells me, that it's always the same place. And I wouldn't even know how to change that."

"Are you sure there's no spell for that?", Rarity asked her. "You usually do have spells for everything."

"Well, yes, and no. This Mirror is ancient. Twilight knows best how to handle it. I think it's best if we wait for her."

"Why, we wouldn't know what to aim at anyway", Rex said. "On our side, there was no mirror, but a Ring. And by the looks of it, this Mirror has lost its magic, it's drained."

"Drained? How can you tell?"

He smiled at Glimmer and his eyes glowed up under his shades, "Enchanted eyes, hence the shades."

Rarity charmed him, "Oh, and I thought you'd wear those because they suited you that well."

"That too, my dear, that too."

"Well, when you say it is drained, how do we recharge it?"

"Why, how do Unicorns power their spells?"

The two mares shared a look and both raised a brow. "I have no idea", Glimmer admitted.

"Why, neither do I." Rex sighed, "If only there was someone to help me figure that out."

"But we're here to help you", Rarity assured him. And Glimmer asked, "What do you need?"

Rex took a second to think and let his look wander through the library. There were plenty of books. If he could learn to read them himself, he could do research on his own, in secrecy.

"Why", he then smiled, "Would you help me find a book?"

Happily the Ponies assisted the blue Lizard Conjurer and went with him down the shelves.

Hati turned to notice Rex looking through the book titles, assisted by the two cute things besides him. "Alright, what should we look for now?", he asked the Conjurer.

"Why, I'm just browsing. There might be an artefact or spell that could benefit us, dear."

"If only we had some god to help us, some deity to answer our prayers", Hati sighed. "I'm sure Kathathrahn wouldn't let us down like this."

"Why, you can try praying to him. I stay by the magic at my disposal."

"Ugh", Rarity sighed, "Why didn't we think of this sooner?"

"Uhm, what exactly?", Applejack asked.

"Asking Discord for help, dear."

Fluttershy smiled, "I'm sure he'd be glad to help."

Pinkie looked somewhat concerned, "Is this a good idea? Discord makes things kinda messy, and not in a fun way."

"So, this Discord is a god that might help us?", Hati asked.

"God of Chaos, he calls himself anyway."

Hati looked at Applejack, "That doesn't sound very encouraging." Hati thought of the Chaos Gods of his world, the blood bathing mutations that drag poor souls into their realms of agony and orgy. He wouldn't want to ask one of those for help. On the other hand, this is a land of Ponies and rainbows, maybe here the Chaos was a bit more digestible.

Applejack lowered her brows in anger, "Playing pranks is what he's best at."

"Now now", Fluttershy defended him, "He stopped playing pranks a while ago, and you would know that, if you'd come to our tea parties once in a while."

"You?", Morty pointed at Fluttershy, "Having tea parties with a chaos god?"

"Only once a week, really."

"Whatever a week means for this place." Rex walked by them, he kept his eyes on the books. "Do you see any dictionaries? I'd really like to learn reading your letters."

Glimmer didn't really know what to make of it, but, "Okay, sure." She turned and searched the titles. A few seconds later her glow pulled a big book out of the row. "That should do it. But, what you want with it? You can't read it."

"Why", Rex smiled, "You're going to read it to me."

"Wait, what?!"

"Please", Applejack criticized, "She can't possibly read that book to'ya. It will take all day. And all night."

"Not to mention that I'll tire."

"Allow me." Rex came to her and drew his book. Anxiously she took a few steps back until she knocked against the shelves.

"What are you doing?", Hati asked.

"Just a Circle of rapid Time, to speed up the reading. Nothing harmful, I promise. You'll read all the words in a few seconds, but for you it won't feel longer than the blink of an eye, I promise."

"Wow", Hati gasped. "He never makes promises."

"Never, ey?" Glimmer dared to smile and came back to Rex. "Okay. What do I do?"

"Just stand still." Rex ripped a page out of the book and let it go in front of Glimmer. When it touched the floor by her hooves, the Runes lit up and crawled over the floor until they formed a ring around the purple Pony.

It completed and time within the circle started to speed up. Glimmer took the book and flipped the pages. Her voice started rambling and went faster and faster until it was but a humming sound. Her face became a blur, and so did the pages that started to swap places from one side to the other in less than a heartbeat.
Rex smiled and looked at his book. The page he beheld filled up with Runes and words around the frame. They were tiny and unreadable but formed a pattern that looked pleasing to the eye.

Soon it was done and Glimmer slowed down. The book in her glow was closed and the Runes on the floor disappeared.

"Now, was that so bad?"

"Not at all", Glimmer smiled, "I didn't even notice it."

Applejack felt the need to comfort her and put her hoof on her shoulder while he looked up to Rex. "And now, what was the point of that?"

The mage took the spell out of the book and showed it to them, "Why, for this of course." It was an empty sheet of paper adorned by an inked frame. He reached for the dictionary and opened a random page.
When he put down the spell on the words, the paper started to change. Ink appeared that copied the words of the dictionary, but it translated them into Brass'Ka letters. "Now it is readable, see?"

"Uhm", Jack looked down at it, "Not for me, it ain't."

Rex handed her the heavy dictionary and went on with the spell page in his hand.

He beheld the shelves and held the page to his face. Everything between his eyes and the shelves was inked on the paper, all the shelves, the crystals and the books. All their titles were translated. Now Rex was able to look for interesting titles by himself, and this library wasn't short on interesting titles.

While he looked for books and was quite pleased with himself, the Ponies behind him wondered. "What kind of spell was that anyway? You sure you're alright?"

"Why, yes. Of course I'm alright. It was nothing. A bit tired maybe."

"You should sit down, we can help them."

And so she did. "Sure, okay. I think I can do that." And sat down by the nearest table. At the same also sat Knom with a pile of books he somehow seemed to read. Either boy-wonder didn't need any translators to understand the curvy mess of the books, or he didn't need to understand them to memorise them. It was an unsettling picture either way.

"If only Twilight was here, she knew how to handle it", Fluttershy muttered.

Rook had his arms crossed and walked around the library. He had an eye on the scene and Ponies. When he walked by Fluttershy, he also muttered, "Y'know, that Twilight of yours is really strange."

"Well, you come from another planet, don't you? For you, everything here must be strange."

"That's not wrong. But that Princess, she's off, more off than y'all. She knows something, hiding something. I got a nose for that. Like Rex, Rex is hiding something too, but he's always hiding something, so that's just his usual stank."

In the meantime, Rex found quite a few books he born interest in. He gave them for Hati to carry, who already had a pile in his arms. With a smile and the page in his hand, Rex gave the next book to the pile. "Elements of Harmony, doesn't that sound nice?"

"Elements of Harmony?", Hati asked, "Is that some sort of chemical element?"

Rarity besides him just answered, "That's kind of a long story."

"And that's something you say, when you don't wanna talk about it."

"Be a dear and carry the books to the table, yes?", Rex asked Hati. And while they turned around, Rex held the page up by routine. He was surprised when the room in front of him was inked by the page but the Ponies were translated too.

The little pictures they carried on their hind legs held not only some meaning he didn't realize but also the mysterious magic he seeked. The ink on the spell showed them changed, translated into Brass'Ka. Overall they all remained the Ponies' names.

The gems on Rarity's flank translated into a character that meant Rarity, which, considered that gems were rare, made sense.
How three balloons were to be translated into the pink one's name though, was part of the magic Rex didn't fully grasp.

Even Glimmer's mark was put into Brass'Ka lettering, but her name seemed to be special. Starlight and Glimmer were magical elements in the world of Brass'Ka and were sources of power and energy. Rex was immediately interested how these markings formed and what made them.

He checked on the others and to his advantage, they were busy helping Hati sorting the books he picked. And so Rex came to Glimmer, sat down next to the tired Pony and hoped he could borrow her help once more.

"Dear, how are you feeling?"

"Better. That spell made me tired."

"I'm sorry for that. I'm guessing, you're not up to help me anymore then?"

"No, no, I can try. What is it?"

"I'm in need for your sorcerer's skills, dear. Do come along, please."

Slowly he walked down the library and Glimmer followed him willingly. Only when he passed a corner and vanished behind a bookshelf, she became leery.

But then it was too late. She passed the corner in good hope and didn't notice the ring of runes on the floor.
The moment she stepped in, time froze around her. She was paralyzed and stunned and lay in the claws of the blue skinned conjurer.

He beheld the colourful Pony and walked around the ring in thoughts. All around him was another ring of runes, creating another field of standing time, so that he could linger here as long as needed. And he would, until he found out what he wanted to know.

"Now, dear", he said for his own amusement, "What is it, that makes your magic run?"

Whatever it was, the same well powered her markings.

It couldn't have been the cosmic radiation, none of the celestial powers that Rex used to drain from. No, something on this world, on these Ponies, worked independently.

Rex pulled down his shades to get a better look at the magic that radiated from the creature. Similar to Twilight, Glimmer had a body of white light. Too much noise really, to see what was going on within.
Maybe he was able to redirect the light. He couldn't drain her magic to get rid of it, he didn't know what it was yet. It was simply too dangerous.
But he could clean it up, mute the noise. He drew his book and reached into its pages. Out of a green light he grabbed a big, black bug. A monster as thick as a fist, with legs like fingers and horns that could pierce skin.

Though this one wasn't here or used to harm anyone, no. It was enchanted. He threw it into the runes and it remained floating in the air.
Once the effect showed, the light dimmed and travelled to the bug. It was a Bug of Darkness and despite the dreadful name, it was rather useful. The magical light radiated by Glimmer was sucked off by the little insect, clearing the path for Rex.

"Now, this is more like it", he said when he leaned in.

The markings were clearly to see now, and so was the flow of magic in Glimmer’s body. Rex discovered a system of power within the flesh, that spread out like veines. Many of them clustered around her magical marking.
More so spread around her head and lead up her horn.

But, "What is this power?", Rex asked himself. How does it spread in a body like this. It's almost like it was chemical, or biological. Frankly he didn't know too much about those fields of science.

He wouldn't learn more from staring at her, no. He had to do something. "Splinters must fall."

He kneeled down by the runes and scratched a few new ones into the floor, adding them to the magical effect of the field. Now he had full control over the reality within it.

"First, we need to get rid of that skin." He pointed his claw at her and drew a line into the air. Simultaneously to his thoughts and intentions, a bloody cut made its way across the Ponies skin. The edges ran across her belly, legs, neck, everywhere really, so that the coat could come clean off.
The pinkish fur along with hair, ears and tail, elevated away from the flesh. It remained floating a few steps above.

But still, Rex couldn't make out the power veines just yet. The markings were still showing, hence their appearance had nothing to do with the skin itself. They were projected by the power within. "Curious."

More gestures by Rex’s hands lead the field to pull on the flesh. The muscles were separated and unfolded. No blood flowed or dripped, it was a clean procedure.
Rex felt he was close, but the veins didn't lie in the muscles either. "No, no no!", he said impatiently and sped up his gestures.
Guts, bowel, liver, heart, lungs and the rest of her organs left her ribcage. The fact that the Ponies had the same organs as Brass'Ka or Humans were not of his concern. He had no nerve for biology now.

Rex gasped when the light showed itself. "There!", he beheld the cadaver, the bones and nerves intertwined. The veins of power were blue and shiny.

He reached out for it and the field broke a bit of it out the skeleton for him. It came to him and he got a closer look at it while it was spinning above his hand.

Like glass, a stone struck and molten by lightning, the vein had mineral characteristics.

His magical gaze could now at last reveal its nature to him. It was a stone and it was growing, slowly but steadily.
It was a crystal. A blue, growing crystal.

"Can it be?", he muttered and looked at the Unicorn's horn. "It must be!" Once again he reached out his hand and the horn was broken off the skull, ripping a hole into bone and brain.

But now he could see, that the crystal was growing in the horn. "No, no, that's not right. The crystal was here first." Yes, it must have been that way, of course. Not the horn was filled by the crystal, but the horn grew around it.

"But then", he asked himself, "Where is it? Where does it come from?"

He tossed the pieces back into the time field where they remained floating. He quickly took his book and rushed through the pages. "A spell, yes, a spell. Eating, drawing? No. A bug, a bug of ...", he slowly looked at his Bug of Darkness.

It was shining stronger by the minute, radiating the white light of the Unicorns. "Curious." Rex smiled. He had it. He finally had it solved out.
He grabbed his bug and spun it around. Under the wings, between the joints and around its eyes, little amounts of the blue crystal had formed from the concentrated exposure of Unicorn magic.

It was in the air. In the water. In the food. This powerful material was everywhere. But then Rex had some in his body as well. He and his friends were infested.

But if it was enough for Rex, only one test could show. Again he grabbed the horn from the air. He held it close to his heart and closed his eyes. A spell was needed, a powerful one, simple enough to cast from the mind. No help from the book. The test needed to be unbiased and clean.

Soon the horn glowed in the Unicorn fashion Rex was accustomed to. The light collected itself on the floor by Rex’s feet where it started to spread into a bright ring. The ring remained small but it worked.
Rex looked down and he saw, the portal was stable. The world behind the ring wasn't dark, it was day, scenery, stones, a horizon. A second later it collapsed and the crystal lost its glow.

Rex checked on the horn. It was dark. Drained. But the crystal now pierced the tip. While magic was used, it grew. Now it all made sense.
The crystal grew when the power flowed through it. Of course. Everything grew when exposed to heat and power.
Rex smiled upon his discovery. It was a blue, growing stone, a crystal, that made this world run.

"Ih'Na'Ji'Sh Haff'Fa'Sha'Mr'Ah Zuh'Vin", he said. "That shall be its name." The name was fitting, even if hard to pronounce. It was Brass'Ka and meant simply Blue Crystal, sounded a lot more sophisticated in Rex's opinion though.

If a short piece of it, like the rest of a Unicorn’s horn, was enough to find the connection back to his planet and back into his home-time, then more of it could bring them all back. If he could collect enough of this Inaji, he could find his old strength back and save his friends.

"Oh, not only that", he laughed. "The planet is made of this, it's swimming in it. Imagine the power. I could go back in time even further. I could save Hati from his curse. I could save Morty's wife. Even make Knom Human again."
Then it struck him and he was frozen in awe. "I could save Mok'To."

With a tear in his eye he tossed all the pieces back into the ring and started the process of resurrection. The horn reattached itself to the skull, the muscles came back on. The organs fled back into the chest and the skin hugged it all to wrap it up. Time was reset in the field and Glimmer was reassembled back to unhurt.

"As good as new", Rex whispered and terminated to field. The runes vanished and Glimmer came to live again.

"So", she said, "What was it you needed help with?"

"You already helped me, dear. A lot. Thank you for that."

She nervously smiled, "Oh-kay then." And went back to the others, where she felt save. "I'll check on the others then. You'll be fine? Sure, sure you will."

After she was gone, Rex remained a few moments. He was pleased. He not only found a way back home, he also found a source of power that could potentially make him the god he always sought to be.

"These books make no sense to me", Hati complained to Glimmer when she came by him. "Where's Rex? I could really use his smart paper."

"Oh, he's", she hesitated while she tiredly passed the table, "Doing a thing, back there, somewhere."

Fluttershy snuck up to her on quiet hooves. "Is something wrong?"

"No, just the usual." Glimmer didn't look very happy and was exhausted.

"Yeah", Hati admitted, "Rex can have that effect on, well, people."

Suddenly the deep, smooth voice of the mage startled the bunch and they all turned around. "I hope you found something of interest?" Rex stood by the table with his arms on his back and a very cool aura dripping from his black coat.

"Ehm, no. Not really." Hati shrugged, "Can't read it, remember?"

And so Rex drew his spell page from the coat and handed it to Hati between his two, blue fingers. "Would you mind, reading them to me?"

Slowly Hati took the page, "But not all of them, surely, right?"

"Why, no. Merely what you deem interesting on my behalf."

"Alright then", Hati opened the book on the table, "Let's start with the Elements of Harmony."

Applejack chuckled, since she stayed in hearing distance. "We could tell you something 'bout that."

"Yeah", Hati cynically nodded, "But then again, it's a long story."

While Hati used the spell-page to go through the fairytales of ponyland, Rex grabbed a book himself and browsed it unhurriedly. He had his own spell-page and was able to conjure as many of them as needed. Like a pair of reading glasses, he held them over the pages to decipher them.

"So", Rook talked to Rex from the side, "What are we reading now?"

"Why, you're not up for a good read?"

"You know me, dude. This is nothing I can help with."

"Or want to help with."

"Need something blown up, I'm your bird."

"I remember."

"But this, this is bullshit, dude."

"Why, what did I tell you about calling me dude?"

"A world of pain awaits you."

"So you do remember."

"What are we even doing here?"

"Have a look at this book", Rex showed the cover to Rook. "It's a book about legends and fairytales. In a place like this, it might as well be a historical record."

"And?"

"We need a way home, don't we?"

"I don't see myself growing old married to a horse."

"Frankly, I don't see you growing old."

"What I said."

"Frankly, these Ponies are not much help at all. So we have to look for artefacts and spells on our own. What we need is power, you understand?"

"And this", Rook pulled on the book in Rex’s hand to have a look, "Book of Creation, is one of those?"

Rex smiled, "Why, it sounds interesting, doesn't it? Imagine, a power to create reality from the mind."

"Can't you already like do that anyway?"

"Why, usually, yes. But not here, not now. This place is working differently. My magic is no good here."

Rook crossed his arms and leaned onto the near shelf. He slowly nodded and began to grasp the seriousness of their mess. "So", Rook raised his finger and pointed at the Mirror, "What about the Mirror?"

Rex seriously took a moment to think. Not everything Rook said was nonsense. Sometimes he was able to see the little sparks within the chaos that no one noticed.

"The Mirror had a malfunction. He did something he wasn't designed to do, and no one here seems to know why."

"Can't you ask the Mirror?"

"It's dead, drained by all magic. I doubt it will ever work again."

"Why?"

Rex shrugged, "The Ring must have used it up." But then he had an idea, "No, no wait. The Ring was already powered. Something here stole the power away. But where did it go?"

"Nothing is lost, ey. It needs to be somewhere. If only there was a way to know what the Mirror did."

"Why, hold on a moment there, friend." Rex's gaze fell on the contraption framing the Mirror. The magic book on top and the paper scrolls were intact and untouched.

Driven and mad he walked up to it and yelled, "What does this book do?", without taking his eyes off.

Rook remained at his spot, "Glad I could help."

"This's Twilight's book", Applejack explained, "Y'all better not touch it."

Pinkie Pie got startled, "Twilight's back?", and fell over. She had fallen asleep leaning on the wall next to Krator. The yelling woke her up rather unpleasantly. "Wha-what? What's happening?"

Rex stood by the contraption and had his eyes on the book. Carefully he laid his hands upon it, grabbed it and opened it slowly.

"I told you not to touch it, hey!"

"Hush now, Hat Pony, I need to see this." But what Rex read was merely a diary. "No, not a diary. It's letters."

Rarity explained, "Twilight and her friend Sunset Shimmer are using the book to communicate. She lives in the other world but the book somehow works for them both."

"Interesting, but useless."

"What do you think about this then, Mister Rex?" Morty was looking at the scroll. It hadn't made sense before, since the wavy lines couldn't be read. But now they were able to decipher them.

The inking page revealed, it was, "Some kind of protocol."

"This is it, Doctor. The clue what the Mirror was thinking."

Rook hadn't moved an inch but commented, "Glad I could help."

Violently Hati ripped the scroll from the metal frame and laid it out on the floor. While the Ponies were upset and couldn't stop arguing, the six busy eyes of Hati, Rex and Morty discovered the flaw in the Mirror.