Chapter 3: A New Alicorn

Octavia was walking through the Everfree forest as she made her way to Zecora’s hut. On her back was a Changeling Colt wearing a red hoodie with blue sleeves, purple eyes and wings along with a dark red carapace and a grey mane in a ponytail. This young changeling was named Chad, and was the younger brother of Bandit.

“What do you plan to do for the weekend?” Octavia asked.

“That all depends on if Bandit comes back this weekend.” Chad said. He watches the trees as they approached the hut.

“Well, while this day is still young, why don’t we help Zecora with a little project?” Octavia asked.

“What kind of project?” Chad asked.

“Something about making a fortune telling cauldron.” Octavia said. Chad nodded happily as they approached the hut.

Octavia knocked on the door and Zecora soon answered.

“Chad and Octavia, what a pleasant surprise. I’m happy to see you before my eyes.”

“Hi Zecora. Octavia said that you want us to help with an experiment.

“I need assistance, this is in fact true. I’m glad you can help me with this issue.” Zecora said.

“I’m willing to help.” Chad said with a smile.

“Let’s get started.” Octavia said.

After about thirty minutes, Chad was carrying a bottle with a blue liquid inside and gave it to Zecora.

“The last ingredient until it’s finally done. And soon it begins, the true fun.” Zecora said.

“So, how does his work?” Chad asked.

“Put a piece of your mane and ask it a question. You should see the future in the cauldron, at least that’s the book says.” Octavia said. Chad nodded with understanding. He walked over to look in the cauldron.

“Okay, mind if I give it a try?” Chad asked.

“If it’s okay with Zecora.” Octavia said.

“If it is the future you want to see, that is quite alright with me.” Zecora replied. Chad smiled and pulled out a strand of his mane and put it in the cauldron.

“Cauldron cauldron, don’t make me feel stupor, show what is ahead in the future.” Chad said with a smile.

“I know now is a bad time, but he didn’t have to rhyme.” Zecora said to Octavia. Chad facepalmed whilst blushing from embarrassment. Chad looked into the cauldron and saw what looked like a destroyed city. Chad looked confused, making Zecora and Octavia worried as they couldn’t see it.

“Chad, what’s wrong? What do you see?” Octavia said.

“It looks like….. It looks like a country in Zebrica.” Chad said. “It looks…… in bad shape.”

“It shows only to you what the future will be. Please reveal, what more do you see.” Zecora said.

“It….. I looks like a lot of dust. Black dust.” Chad said. He looked closer, but it all stopped. “That….. That was it.”

Zecora and Octavia look at each other and then back at Chad.

“Black Dust?” They both asked.

“Are you sure this’ll work Shining Armor?” Cadance asked.

“Not in the slightest, but it’s a lot better than keeping it here.” Shining Armor said. “I remember it getting sent here through a portal, so if we can use portals to transport it, we can get it to a safer location.”

“I wasn’t talking about how we were sending it, I was referring to where we were sending it to.” Cadance said.

“Twilight and her friends are the only ones so far who know about it the location. And if we can trust the changeling-”

“Bandit.” Cadance deadpanned.

“If we can trust Bandit, which I don’t, then the location won’t be revealed to any untrustworthy creatures.” Shining armor said.

“You know, Shining, I understand you’re skeptical about Bandit, due to him being a changeling, but, he did save ours lives. Not just ours but many in the Crystal Empire.” Cadance brought up.

“It could all just be a ruse. What if he’s here take away the Crystal heart, or worse, Flurry Heart?” Shining Armor asked.

“Shining Armor. Take a moment and think. He was able to keep this castle from falling, had the magic to undo the damage in seconds, and willingly allowed himself to be arrested so not to lead to further misunderstanding. On top of that, he was raised by Celestia.” Cadance pointed out. Shining Armor opened his mouth, but closed it.

“Okay….. I see your point.” Shining Armor said. His horn started blinking.

“Okay, we’re ready Shining.” Twilight’s voices said.

“Okay, making the portal.” Shining Armor said. He creates the portal under the red hexahedron and Twilight makes one on the other side. The hexahedron falls through the portal and lands at the base of the tree of harmony.

“It worked!” Twilight said as she clapped her hooves together. Bandit, who was sitting next to her smiled at this.

“Okay. Step two.” Bandit said. He used his magic to put a barrier around it. “That should keep it safe for now.”

“What is that?” Twilight asked.

“It’s a tracker dispel. Keeps Ligero from being able to track its power.” Bandit said. Twilight nodded in understanding.

“So, the other elements, how are we gonna be able to find them?” Twilight asked.

“That’s gonna be difficult, due to the fact that only those who embody the elements will be able to locate them. Kind of like your elements of harmony.” Bandit answered.

“You know about the elements of Harmony?” Twilight asked with a stunned expression.

“Honesty, Loyalty, Kindness, Generosity, Laughter and Magic. They’re quite similar to the Elements of Unity.” Bandit said.

“They are?”

“Yeah. Humility and Generosity, Allegiance and Loyalty, Wisdom and Honesty, Optimism and Kindness, and Magic and Alchemy. Determination and Courage aren’t counterparts of Laughter, so they’re unique in a way.” Bandit explained. Twilight was writing all of this down.

“So they’re similar, yet they stand out. This is truly amazing. Why haven’t the books said anything about them?”

“They’re too powerful. Artifacts that offer a lot of power tend to get pursued by those with less than wholesome intentions. Primarily the reason they’re so hard to find, even for those who aren’t with Ill intentions.” Bandit said.

“There’s gotta be a way to track down the elements easier.” Twilight said.

“Maybe with a summoning map.” Bandit said. Twilight wrote that down before actually hearing what he said.

“A summoning map?” Twilight asked.

“From how you said that, I’m gonna guess you have something similar?” Bandit asked.

“Yes! The Cutie map has a bunch of locations in equestria that me and my friends get summons to.”

“Okay, one: It’s my friends and I. Two: That’s perfect. If I can use my magic on the Cutie map to reveal the locations of the Elements-”

“We can find ways to put them in safe places and keep them out of reach of Ligero and his associates.” She added as she clapped her hooves.

“Perfect. Let’s get to it.” Bandit said. They both trotted to the entrance and started flying.

“By the way, you said you have a little brother?”

“He was briefly mentioned by Celestia and Yeah. Chad.” Bandit said as he and Twilight flew two the castle.

Fancy placed a chest piece on Soarin. Once he had it on, Nanotech activated and Soarin was covered in metal armor with the exception of his head. He started to move around and get used to the feeling.

“That Nanotech sure is impressive.” Spitfire said.

“It requires years and years of practice and studies in order to create anything close to what I have.” Fancy pants said.

“When did you get a degree in Nanotechnology?” Spitfire asked.

“Last week.”

“And when did you begin taking Nanotechnology?”

“Last week.” Fancy Pants said.

“You said this was a E.M.P.S? Right?” Soarin asked.

“Easily Modifiable Prototype Suit. Very expensive to make, cost me a fortune. Because I was feeling so generous, I am handing it over to the property of the Wonderbolts.” Fancy Pants said as he walked over and grabbed another wine bottle.

“How does this thing work?” Soarin asked.

“Everything you need to know about the suit is on-” Fancy Pants picked up a thick manual and placed it on the table. “-is on this Manual.”

Spitfire flipped through a few pages and then looked at Soarin.

“What do you say Soarin? Ready to put this to the test?” Spitfire asked.

“Ready as Always.” Soarin said.

“Alright. Head back to Wonderbolt headquarters. I’ll meet you there.” Spitfire said. Soarin looked at Fancy Pants, then at Spitfire and saluted. He trotted out the door.

“Look, Fancy Pants. I know you’re going through some tough times; what happened with Fleur de Lis, I’m truly sorry.” Spitfire said. Fancy Pants took the top off his wine.

“Don’t reactivate the security system on your way out.” Fancy said. Spitfire gave him a look of grieve before making a reluctant walk to the door.

Once she was gone, Fancy Pants sent his wine bottle into the wall.

“Sir? Is everything okay?” An automated female voice asked. Fancy Pants went silent for a moment.

“Yeah. Just needed to get that out of my system.” Fancy Pants said as he rubbed his head. “Machina, activate Mark VII. Initiate safety protocol code Gamma.”

“Right away sir.” Machina replied. An iron suit attaches itself to Fancy Pants and covered all but the face.

Big Macintosh and Starlight were in the barn. Starlight had a bunch of open books in the barn and was reading the last one.

“Find anything?” Big Macintosh asked.

“No. The closest thing to this and how it works is the Alicorn Amulet.” Starlight answered.

“I remember that.” Big Macintosh said. She looked at him.

“You do?”

“Eeyup. Trixie used it here in Pony-”

“Oh right, she told me about that. I completely forgot about that.” Starlight indirectly interrupted.

“Which means, if someone puts it on, the magic could transfer onto them.” Big Macintosh hypothesized. Starlight then looked at Big Mac. He looked back at her and read the look on her face.

“Oh no. I’m not putting that harness on.”

“You’re the only one that could pick it up. You pretty much have to.” Starlight replied. Big Macintosh groaned and looked at the harness.

“Okay. Fine.” Big Macintosh said. He picks the harness up and looked at it. He closed his eyes and put it on. There was a flash of white light, causing Starlight to close his eyes.

Applejack was trotting back to the barn, having gotten word that something crashed into the barn. She saw from a distance, a flash of white light.

“What in tarnation?” Applejack asked out loud as she started trotting faster. Some of the animals were going insane.

Starlight uncovers her eyes as the light dims. She dropped her jaw from the sight.

Big Macintosh was transformed into an alicorn. His mane and tail were as gold as the harness. Big Macintosh didn’t notice until he saw Starlight Glimmer’s face.

“What? What’s the matter?” He asked. He noticed that he felt heavier. Starlight used her magic to show him a mirror reflection of him.

Big Macintosh looked and his pupils progressively shrunk as he processed what the harness did to him. He was about to scream.

“Don’t freak out!” Starlight silently yelled. Big Mac kept the screaming face, but no sound came out.

“Big Mac! What happened over here!? Applejack’s voice yelled.

“Shit! Big Mac take it off!” She yelled quietly.

“I can’t! It ain’t coming off!” Big Mac quiet yelled back, making numerous attempts to take the harness off. Unaware that his panic was keeping him from taking it off correctly.

“Big Mac!” Applejack called. She opened the barn door. Starlight turned around and waved her hooves in panic.

“Applejack! I can explain!” She yelled.

“Starlight? What are you doing here? Where’s Big Mac?” Applejack asked.

“He’s right-” She looked behind her, and to her surprise, Big Macintosh was nowhere to be seen. “Um…. will be right back.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow at this.

“Yeah. He went to get some supplies to fix the barn.” Starlight covered up. Her nervous smile and her sweat was not on her side.

“What crashed through the-”

“Meteor.”

“Uh huh, and all the books? Why are all these books here?”

“Big Mac and I are starting a book club. Yeah that’s it. My apology for my first impressions.” Starlight said. A long pause falls between the two.

“If Big Mac needs help, tell him I’m at the castle.” Applejack said as she walked off. The second she was out of sight, Starlight frantically looked around.

“Big Mac! Where are you?” She exclaimed.

“I never moved. I’m in the same spot.” Big Mac said.

“I don’t remember where you were standing.” Starlight said. Not even a second later, she bumped into an invisible Big Macintosh.

“How are you invisible?”

“I was gonna ask you that. Help me turn visible!” Big Macintosh exclaimed.

“Hold on. Give me a second.” Starlight said. She prepares a spell, hit Big Mac with it, only for it to deflect and hit her back. Briefly stunning her.

“What happened? Did it work?” Big Macintosh asked. Starlight shook her head to compose herself.

“It…. it didn’t work.” Starlight said.

“Maybe this’ll work.” Big Mac said. He turned visible as he took the Harness off. He put it back on, and one white flash later was an Alicorn once more.

“This….. This could be interesting.” Starlight said.

“You think?” Big Macintosh asked.

“We’re going to need some more magic books on this.” Starlight said.

Bandit and Twilight were in the castle and walked over to the Cutie map. Then, he sparked up his horn.

“Ready?” Bandit asked.

“Ready.” Twilight said.

Bandit started to blast the cutie map. The room was shaking as the map was slowly expanding. His horn changed colors multiple times and his nose slowly bled.

After a few minutes, the map was bigger and glowing. Twilight looked with wide excited eyes.

“It worked!” Twilight said. Bandit blew his smoking horn to cool it off.

“That’s the first time I used that spell. It hurt.” Bandit said as he wiped his nose. Twilight looked at the map and observed it.

“Now, I guess we wait until they show up on the map.” Twilight said.

“It shouldn’t be long. Hopefully, Ligero hasn’t found one of them yet.” Bandit said. They heard something drop. They look towards the door and saw Rarity and Rainbow Dash with dropped jaws.

“These two aren’t gonna throw me in a cell are they?” Bandit asked.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed. Next chapter will start introducing a lot more.

See you next chapter.