On Wings Of Black And White

Mysteeri stared skyward to the body of water that stretched out over the horizon, the only noise in the field of pink flowers being the whistle of the wind that blew through the petals, the waterfalls that fell from the glimmering ocean hitting the ground with pure silence.

Mysteeri knew this place well at this point, as if she returned here almost every time she fell asleep. It allowed time to think…to contemplate. She broke her gaze from the ocean sky and looked down to her suit, once again the only noise being the wind as, even in a dream, it refused to vanish from her body. With a grumble, she crossed her arms and went back to looking at the ocean.

Only to be interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps.

“This is a strange dream.” A smooth, soft voice echoed through the field, Mysteeri lowering her head once more, glancing over her shoulder to see a Unicorn…no, Pegasus? Or perhaps it was both. Mysteeri shrugged the thought off, remaining unmoving as she approached. The pony had a deep blue coat, her mane and tail flowing, with stars like the night sparkling amongst them “You’re not from around here, are you?” She questioned, tilting her head.

“And you are?” Mysteeri returned “Never seen you in this dream before.”

The regal looking pony chuckled “Yes, I guess you could say that. My name is Princess Luna, I keep watch over the dream world at night.”

“Luna…” Mysteeri mumbled “Starburst mentioned you.” She said as she turned the rest of her body to face the Princess.

“Now…” Luna cleared her throat, taking on a much sterner stance “Your dream radiated an otherworldly energy, that’s why I’m here. I must ask, offworlder, what is your purpose for being here?”

Mysteeri reached behind her back with one hand, summoning a silver pistol into her grip “And what reason do I have to tell you? We both know I’m not supposed to be here. Who’s to say you won’t track me down and send me back?” She lowered her stance with a menacing scowl on her lips as she spoke, digging her foot into the floor.

Luna began pacing around Mysteeri, her eyes keeping locked on her as she walked, as if she were looking for something “It’s very rare for someone to come to our world from the outside of their own choice. I must assume your presence here relates to the large burst of magical energy that was detected by Twilight Sparkle earlier today.”

Mysteeri responded with silence, slowly rotating to keep herself facing Luna as the Princess observed her “Your silence is answer enough.” Luna frowned “In truth, outsider, you would be correct to assume it would be my duty to send you back to the world you came from. However…”

“However?” Mysteeri raised an eyebrow.

Luna stopped and faced Mysteeri properly “Your acquaintance, Starburst Nova, would not have summoned you to this world without understanding the risks, nor would she summon someone with such power within them.” Luna suddenly appeared mere inches away from Mysteeri, a blue glow radiating from her horn. Mysteeri’s body instinctively tried to jump back, only to find herself frozen to the spot with Luna staring right into her soul “Offworlder, you know of the darkness well, I feel that within you, too. I do not know the specifics of your mission, but I have felt something that it is an important one. I will allow you to stay in our world, but you must tell no one of our meeting tonight, understand?”

“Yeah…” Mysteeri grunted, her feet shaking as she tried to wrench herself free from her magical restraints “What happens if word about me gets out, then?”

“I’m afraid my sister will not be so willing to allow you to stay.” Luna stepped back, releasing Mysteeri from her grasp. There was a brief silence between them until Luna broke it with “I did not ask for your name.”

“…Mysteeri.” Mysteeri responded.

A soft smile appeared on Luna’s face as a portal opened up behind her “Well, Mysteeri, I hope I can meet you in person when you have completed your task.” She nodded and turned away, vanishing into the abyssal portal.

Just as the void snapped shut, Mysteeri jolted awake. She was still in Starburst’s guest room, no sign of Luna. Groaning as she stood up, her blurry vision was blasted by morning sunlight as the curtains suddenly swung open, causing the girl to flinch back.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” Starburst’s voice came from the doorway “I didn’t know it would be so bright out! Are you OK?” She rushed over to Mysteeri as she rubbed her eyes, hopping up onto the bed to get as close to eye level with her as she could.

Mysteeri lowered her hands to reveal a sky blue iris in the eye her hair usually covered, the huge mass of purple and pink itself a huge mess that spread out in every direction “Whoa…” Starburst blinked “Your eye, I’ve never seen that before..."

Mysteeri grunted as she realised her hair’s condition, turning to a blur for a split second as she righted it back into its proper shape “Morning, then…” She yawned.

Starburst dropped down from the bed “Heheh, good morning, Mysteeri.” She chuckled “Sorry about the sunlight.”

Mysteeri arched her back and rolled her neck “I’ve had worse wake up calls.” Her eyes shifted down to the suit…still there.

“So, um, I know we just met and all, but…why cover up your other eye?” Starburst asked with a small grin. Mysteeri looked down to her, then out the window for a moment until she just walked past her and into the hall “Ah…” Starburst muttered, trotting up to Mysteeri’s side “Sorry.”

Mysteeri just shrugged, her revealed eye opening fully when a sweet smell filled the air “What’s that smell?”

“Oh, ah, haha, that’s breakfast.” Starburst replied as they walked downstairs “I’ve had nothing but pancakes for breakfast ever since I got my own place. I made you some, too!”

There were still a few objects strewn about the lounge from last night, but the table had two plates upon it, both stacked with syrup-covered pancakes. Mysteeri took a glance to Starburst as she sat down, the Unicorn had dark bags under her eyes, almost slumping over in her chair

“You look exhausted.” Mysteeri spoke up as she sat down in the other chair, idly spinning the fork between her fingers.

“Oh, do I?” Starburst’s nervous laughter only caused Mysteeri to give her a more inquisitive look. The Unicorn sighed and shook her head “After you fell asleep last night, I couldn’t sleep myself. My mind was racing after those monsters just kept showing up. I considered going to the library to read up on if there were any records of them, but I didn’t know if they were…waiting outside.”

“And you kept watch the whole night?” Mysteeri responded before putting a large chunk of pancakes in her mouth.

Starburst shook her head “It wasn’t that it was more that I just…couldn’t sleep in case they showed up again. I guess we should count ourselves lucky they didn’t. Plus, I heard you sleep talking.”

Mysteeri froze.

“You sounded like you were talking to someone.” Starburst’s magic flickered around her horn as she began eating herself “You didn’t say a name, though.”

“First I’ve heard of me sleep talking.” Mysteeri shrugged “Aunt Rem never said anything, and she stays up ages making music sometimes.”

Starburst replied with a tired hum, the two of them eating the rest of their breakfast in silence until Starburst spoke up again “Hey, by the way, when Twilight spotted you, what did you turn into?”

A light flash of purple light surrounded Mysteeri, her form instantly changing to a black and white, long haired cat with pink markings running from her head down to her tail “I believe this is what you saw.” Her voice echoed in Starburst’s head, the Unicorn frantically looking around in response “That’s me, Starburst, I have telepathy in this form.” In another flash, Mysteeri was back in her regular appearance…and the suit was still there, along with the itch in her back returning.

“Oh wow…” Starburst’s voice was full of wonder “I’ve never been able to perform a transformation spell!”

Mysteeri shrugged and leaned back “You and I probably use different kinds of magic, I don’t think my abilities would transfer over to your type all that easily.”

Starburst responded with a simple “Oh.” Before taking the empty plates to the kitchen, stumbling along the way. When she returned a few minutes later, Mysteeri was simply staring out into the morning sky “Hey, Mysteeri?”

“Yeah?” Mysteeri asked, sitting upright and looking to the Unicorn.

“…I’m sorry about asking you why you covered your eye earlier. I didn’t know it was personal to you.” Starburst frowned as she jumped back onto her chair “Won’t-“ She was interrupted by a yawn “…happen again.”

Mysteeri shook her head “No, I shoulda just told ya I didn’t wanna talk about it instead of just ignoring you. Sorry if I’ve been acting a bit…hostile, too, I know you mean well.”

“Huh?” Starburst tilted her head “What do you mean?”

“I can be a bit…cold with new people. I just find it a little hard to trust someone I’ve never met before, but, well, considering that look in your eye, I know you want to do the right thing.” A small smile crept onto Mysteeri’s face.

“That’s…good…” Starburst slumped over in her chair, Mysteeri springing upright only to relax when the Unicorn released a light snuffle.

“Poor girl’s exhausted.” Mysteeri murmured to herself as she stood up, looking out the window again to see a whole rainbow of ponies filling the grass road outside “She said she wanted to go to the library…” The witch looked to Starburst, then returned to her bedroom and swung the windows open.

There was a brief flash of purple light and a long haired cat jumped out of the window and landing on the ground below with a light thump. She got a few glances from some passing ponies, but was left undisturbed as she looked around

“Now, where would a library be?” She thought to herself, weaving between ponies’ legs as she skittered through the town, yet found no sign of a library any which way she went. Bakeries, regular stores, even a bustling marketplace, but no library.

Mysteeri eventually found herself back where she started, sitting in front of the remains of the beaten up tree she had spotted the night before, tracing her claws around in the dirt with a fowl expression on her face.

“Hey, that’s not the library anymore, you know!” A familiar voice caused Mysteeri’s ears to perk up, spinning her head to see Twilight approaching from behind her.

“You recognised me?” Mysteeri asked, head tilted.

“Oh wow, telepathy?” Twilight smiled “You’re full of surprises, Mysteeri.” She looked up to the tree with a nostalgic smile, then back to Mysteeri “So, you’re on a book run for Starburst?”

“Kind of.” Mysteeri replied “She was going to get the books herself last night, but was too afraid to leave the house, or go to sleep. She completely conked out in the middle of a conversation.”

Twilight let out a sigh “Starburst’s been like that for years, if something’s on her mind she’ll even go as far as not eating until she gets what she wants to do done. I’ve never heard of her being afraid, though.”

“Why’s that?” Mysteeri asked.

A small distance away from the two, two other ponies watched Twilight conversing with the cat, faces scrunched up in confusion “Is she talking to a cat?” One asked the other.

“Definitely looks that way.” The other replied “She must be usin’ some kinda new magic…”

“Starburst’s special talent is wielding incredibly powerful magic, I’ve seen her reduce boulders the size of a building to rubble like it was as easy as lifting a piece of paper, but for her to be afraid?” Twilight looked to the Starburst’s house nearby “It feels so out of character for her.”

Mysteeri nodded “Those monsters were something else. They have her scent, and probably ours, too, she was surrounded by the things when she summoned me.”

“Well then,” Twilight took a step forward, then suddenly stopped “Oh, uh, is it alright if I lift you up?”

“I get people coming up to me all the time, I don’t mind anyone touching me in this form.” Mysteeri said as she licked her paw.

Twilight lifted the feline onto her back “Alright, well, we better get you some books before those monsters decide to show up again. On to the library!” She boldly exclaimed, happily trotting along down the streets. Mysteeri didn’t say anything, idly sitting on Twilight’s back as she walked through the town, getting a few glances from passerby ponies until one caught her attention. A regular, male pony with a deep grey coat, white mane and tail with cyan eyes, staring right at her. Yet just as Mysteeri blinked, they were gone.

“Ah! Here we are!” Twilight interrupted Mysteeri’s contemplation on the pony, the cat turning around to see Twilight pointing toward an extremely large maple tree, the image of a book carved into its trunk above the door “Deep Autumn Library!”

“Explains why I missed it.” Mysteeri rolled her eyes.

Twilight gently pushed the door open to reveal just how expansive the insides of this tree were, dozens of shelves stacked with hundreds of books surrounded them and looking up only showed there was another floor above them “Am I just seeing this because I’m small, or is there magic involved with how big this place is?” The cat questioned, rapidly turning her back and forth to observe the room.

“Nope.” Twilight chuckled “Just a really, really big tree.” She gave the receptionist a friendly wave as she passed by “So, you two would want books on Hungaar, right?”

“I presume as much that’s what Starburst was going to get, yeah.” Mysteeri responded “But I doubt you’ve got any books on an astral infection.”

“Can’t say I’ve seen one, no.” Twilight shook her head “But there is one huge book about Hungaar.” She said as she brought a book down from one of the highest shelves, a picture of the night sky with the white streak covering it on the cover.

“Studies of Hungaar…” Mysteeri hummed “It should do.”

“Let’s get a start on it here.” Twilight walked to a table and placed the book upon it. Mysteeri jumped off her back and onto the table, laying down beside the book as Twilight opened it.

The door to the library slowly swung open again, the deep grey Earth pony from earlier making his way in. He greeted the receptionist with a simple “Good day.” as he passed her, eyeing the room until he spotted Twilight and Mysteeri.

“…so Hungaar has a very elliptical orbit around the sun, how it remains in its sphere of influence is a mystery even now.” Twilight explained, Mysteeri responding with just swishes of her tail “But there’s never been any signs of something hitching a ride. Even right now there are people observing its main body and there’s no signs of this…infection.”

“Maybe the arrival of the comet awoke it from within the planet itself.” Mysteeri mused “Until we find the source of all this, we won’t know for sure…”

“Excuse me…” The grey pony approached the two of them.

“Oh, hello.” Twilight gave the pony a warm smile “Can I help you?”

“Yes, I was wondering if either of you have seen a pony called Starburst Nova.” The pony questioned.

“Hang on…either of us?” Twilight responded, “My friend’s cat can’t speak.”

A brief silence.

The duo were suddenly sent flying out of a nearby window by an incredibly powerful gust of wind, its incredible powering sending books flying all throughout the library. Twilight grabbed the falling Mysteeri and tossed her onto her back as the grey pony seemed to levitate through the window to meet them in the air, an almost dead gaze in his eyes.

“Who are you!?” Twilight bellowed, sparkling with magic.

“I’m afraid I cannot answer that.” The grey pony spoke, his voice monotone “But I can tell you I’m…an emissary.”

“Emissary?” Mysteeri looked to the floor below, a small crowd already gathered to observe the faceoff “For who?”

The grey pony’s eyes glazed over and turned entirely black, wings of sheer darkness rupturing from within his skin, his head falling limp as another one emerged from within it, just as pure black as the wings he had sprouted.

“What the…?” Twilight muttered in pure shock at the sight.

“Twilight, we need to lure him away from here.” Mysteeri’s voice turned serious as she climbed atop the princess’ head “This guy…you’re gonna need my help, and not only is fighting him here gonna get people killed, I can’t show my true form in front of a crowd.”

“Got it.” Twilight nodded “Hey, follow me!” She called out to the puppeteering beast, flying off to the mountains, the shadowy being smirking as it followed suit.

Twilight stopped in a canyon between two mountains, a raging river below them “This should be good.” She kept her eyes on the monstrous pony as it approached “What is that thing, though?”

“Like I said,” Mysteeri jumped off Twilight and turned back to her human form in a flash of purple light “those things have got our scent. But if we can save that guy…” The dark monster came to a sudden halt a fair distance across from them, Mysteeri’s body igniting with a faint purple flame “He should be able to tell us what happened to him.”

The dark beast let out an otherworldly screech as it charged for the two of them, the purple heroes letting out battle cries of their own as they rushed toward it.