The Great Search for Pink Milk

Chapters

The Earth Wizard
A Pony, His Mud Minion, and a Book
Trip to Sugarcube Corner? No, trip back to the Golden Oaks Library
I Can't Do This Alone
1 to 2, 2 to 4, breaking reality, blood on my hooves,
Quiet Thought Processes and Ideals for the Future
Discovering in the Everfree and a Failed Party Attempt

The Earth Wizard

I stared into the stream I had been sitting at since I arrived; the reflected creature stared back at me with his enlarged green eyes. Almost everything I had spent the last 12 years building was taken from me by those I saved in just a few seconds. Now through the combined powers of the Elders of Creation and the Solar Tree, I'm stuck here, millions of lightyears away from my home. Using my magic, I grew a tree on the other side of the stream to make sure I still had access to it. Though I should've figured I still had my magic as I already had my cutie mark, a dark purple leaf.

As I began moving away from the stream, I was lost in thought about what I would do now. I'm certainly not taking over the universe anytime soon, and I doubt that even if I had the necessary reagents to build a portal home, I wouldn't be able to muster the magic to power it. I will need to be analytical about this entire thing. I'll have to head to the nearest town to provide an excellent front to the locals, merely saying that I'm from a far-off country—definitely no shadow magic. There's no telling how they'd react to it, especially after what King Sombra did. Deciding to stick strictly to simple healing spells, I finally reach the closest town.

Arriving in the town, I immediately knew where I was; Ponyville. I must've been in the Everfree Forest before; the fact a timberwolf or manticore hadn't attacked me was a miracle. Though thinking about it a bit, they were probably afraid of me more than I was of them. I always assumed that Ponyville was a small and quiet town, but it certainly didn't seem like it today; everyone was outside, going about their business. It then dawned on me that this was Equestria, so there likely was a party going on. My theory was confirmed by the pink, vanilla icing-covered hoof that had spun me around to look at its owner.

"OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH! THREE NEW FRIENDS IN ONE DAY! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! I GET TO THROW A WELCOME-TO-PONYVILLE PARTY FOR THREE! AHHHHH!" Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter herself, said before forming herself into a ball and bouncing herself halfway across town.

So Ponyville has seen an increase in new residents, and Pinkie still looked youthful, so I've been sent here before the final episode. At what point did two new ponies arrive? I'm fairly certain that Maud Pie and Mud Briar arrived in Ponyville separately. Whatever is being celebrated can't be big enough for a large influx of visitors if Pinkie is trying to throw parties for them. Though if she could, I'm sure she would.

So far, nobody has questioned my existence. Hopefully, I overreacted earlier and didn't need to provide a front to everyone else. I should be able to search for a way home in relative peace. I didn't want anyone to think I was a criminal or something of that sort, so I went to the town hall to speak with the mayor. Mostly, I'd just be asking questions about owning properties and living in the Everfree. Despite the inherent danger of living there, I can think of no better home for someone who draws power from nature.

I walked into the town hall and found that the place was decorated with pink ribbons wrapped neatly around columns and railings by the Element of Generosity. She stood in the center of the room, horn alight, tightening ribbons, and tying bows while humming peacefully to herself. I cleared my throat in the most polite way I possibly could to get her attention; I never was good in social situations.

"Oh terribly sorry darling, I was in--the zone." She said, turning to me with a smile. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I-I um ... was wondering if you've seen the Mayor; I'm new in town and was looking to move here." I've always hated direct speech; I'm much more comfortable with the loyalist tests back home.

"Why yes, of course. She's through the hallway to the left and three doors down." I thanked her and made my way down the hallway to the third door labeled 'Mayor's Office.' Attempting to be polite, I knocked on the door and waited for a reply. However, no answer ever came; pressing my equine ear to the door, I began hearing the faint sound of snoring. I let myself into her office.

Mayor Mare sat in an incredibly comfortable-looking chair, snoozing away. No matter which planet you go to, the politicians always seem to be incompetent, I thought to myself.I sneaked my way to her desk and quietly began looking through the drawers, searching for anything that could help me with my cover story. Inside them, I found a reference guide to the storage office mentioning a cabinet filled with residences whose ownership is debatable at best.

My thoughts turned back to Rarity in the lobby, making preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration. At least, I think that's why she's decorating the town hall lobby. It would have to be considering the similarities between the decor from then and now. I know she doesn't like doing the same thing over and over, so she wouldn't just copy this town hall's decor from a prior one either. This means Princess Luna will come back and cause a bit of a stir-up later tonight. This will be the perfect time to wiggle my way into residency: nothing spectacular, just some random non-important unicorn minding his own business.

Once I made my way to the storage office, I found the cabinet containing the deeds and sifted through the many folders, and finally found one that fit. It wasn't inside the Everfree like I had hoped; at least it was close to it. A small patch of land belonged to a Lively Hollow just on the outside of town. Land that's right next to the Everfree Forest is usually considered a death trap by locals. Nobody's going to fact-check this, and I know the owner won't come knocking for such a small area. After a bit of forgery and some creativity, I had a birth certificate and a home in my name. Now it was just for a matter of 'lawfully' acquiring the deed.

I returned to the mayor and positioned myself to make it look like I'd come from the lobby and knocked loudly. That got her up, and I heard hoofsteps from the other side of the door. "Yes, please coming in. Don't mind the mess."

She said, still with some sleep in her eyes. It was nice of her to maintain the image of a hard-working mayor for a new-comer like me. "Hello, Ms. Mayor, My name is Lively Hollow, I've recently learned that I own land in Ponyville. I needed a change of pace and would like to move in." I said in a friendly, business casual manner.

"Yes, of course; please follow me over to the storage office, and we'll get you straightened out." We walked to the storage office, and I had to force myself not to start laughing and blowing my cover. She pulled out the deed and sat down at a nearby table.

"Now I just need to see your birth certificate, and we can sign over the papers.''' I passed my fake birth certificate to her. I sat in front of her desk as she scratched away with a quill on paper.

"Alright, Mr. Hollow, everything seems to be in order." She passed the deed back to me; I legally owned land in Equestria now. Strangely, this is a beautiful feeling. You'd think someone who owns plenty of property all over the universe wouldn't care, but to have a claim to Equestria, I had butterflies in my stomach.

"Thank you, mayor; I'll go get started moving in straight away." I must've had the biggest grin on my face; I just took my own land. Usually, it's Mother who takes land either through deception or violence, but this time it was all me. I was actually kind of proud of myself.

"Don't forget to stay up to watch the sunrise tomorrow; the entire town will be gathering here for it."

This was my chance to see if this was the Summer Sun Celebration. " Sunrise? Is something going on?" I said, a bit of confusion in my voice.

"It's the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration; The princess will be here tonight." That settled it; I am at the start of the show.

I certainly had no intention of showing up for the party with so much work to do, so I said. "I'll be there."

Lively Hollow's home was located about 50 feet away from the Everfree proper. It provided a good deal of cover from the townsfolk with the surrounding trees. With no house on the lot, I went with a standardized home that every adept wizard learned back in college (as long as they grease the palms of the professors.)—the Elemental Home Spell. Sure, it meant that we all essentially had the same house, but we all need a place to rest after long days of research, study, and experimentation. The elemental earth home was a simple oak tree carved out into a seven-room two-story house. Upon entering, the indescribable scent of home reminded me of what I fought for and what had brought me here, I will return home; I will have my revenge.

A Pony, His Mud Minion, and a Book

With a thunderous crunch, the boulder fell back onto the ground. Any other wizard wouldn't be able to participate in this workout. I pull on the chain in my right hand, using two percent strength and ninety-eight percent earth magic; I lifted the boulder connected to the chain. The heavier the item lifted, the more magic needed to hold it up. This was the design for the workout. Only adept wizards were given this trial, as failing for even a second would result in my arm being ripped from my torso. I panted heavily, my body soaked in sweat—sunrise to sunset, five times a week. The Shimmering Isles was built on blood and needed strong wizards and warriors to keep her standing. Even though I was exhausted, I wouldn't let mother down.

In my half-asleep state, I rolled myself out of bed, expecting my legs to stop me from falling over. However, I currently lacked my human legs, resulting in myself falling onto the floor and knocking over my end table. I was lying down on the oddly warm floor, halfway wrapped in my cover for a few minutes. Half of me desired to just go back to bed on the floor, but the other half knew better. Standing back up, I made my bed and adjusted the end table.

I thought that perhaps, the stairs would creak and groan on my way down, or I'd lose my footing. However, as I walked down the stairs, nothing happened. Odd, I thought. Usually, something would've gone wrong by now. Granted, mother wasn't here to cause them, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was messing with me from the palace. While leaving me here, just to show me how much of a failure I am. I walked into the kitchen. The smell of breakfast from the enchanted appliances woke me up properly and caused my stomach to rumble. Upon the dining table sat a breakfast befitting a prince of the Shimmering Isles. Two pancakes, two eggs; scrambled, two strips of bacon (replaced with hay bacon for dietary reasons), and two hash browns, still steaming upon the plate.

With a cup of coffee to go with it, I sat and pondered my plans for universal domination as I ate. The book and element are still in my workroom. A smart man would get started immediately on examining them. Gods willing, they'll be powerful enough to open a portal back home. Should this prove impossible, at least I'll have a dinner ticket for when the pre-packaged food runs out. I chewed up a piece of hay bacon.
The book would likely be more comfortable due to my prior knowledge of shadowmancy, so I'll leave the element hidden for now.

Pinkie hadn't visited today; I was sure that I would hear from her by now as I left the party in a state. I wondered what she was planning; she hasn't met Cranky yet, so she wouldn't have learned to hold back yet. I'll likely hear from her later.

Getting up from my seat, I levitated my now empty plate and cup over to the dishwasher and walked into the workroom at the back of my house. I know the sayings are 'Castle Sweet Castle' or 'Tower Sweet Tower.' Still, I've always preferred 'workshop sweet workshop.' I swear I spent more time hunched over a desk scrawling away than outside, practicing magic. The book was under a cloth on my desk, its spikes standing out prominently.

Before anyone starts examining ancient dark artifacts, always remember to put a magic shield around their source. My source is connected straight to my horn as a unicorn, though I miss the crystal balls I used to use. The sound of the bird's chirping drew my attention to a window I haven't covered. Against my better judgement, I opened my oak wood window and hesitantly leaned outside. As I stuck my head out, I expected to be hit by something or have something fall on me. However, I was surprised; the only thing that struck me was a breeze. It wasn't even that hot or cold, just a pleasant breeze.

A small blue bird flew onto my windowsill, joining me during my research. The book was cracked open, and I immediately felt the shadow magic attempting to enter my mana pool. "From in the head to out in the world, every thought to action. Hold close this book and through its spell, you'll start a chain reaction. Projecting forth whatever beauty you see. Only when true words are spoken will you finally be set free." The book's incantation wrote. Generally, once you read this, the magic would infest your pool and whisper sweet nothings into your head until you overdid it. At least, that's what I think happened in the episode. Maybe Rarity just went crazy with power for a while.

I made sure to keep the corruption at bay, only reading the book for now. With my prior experience with pouring over grimoires and tomes, I knew where to look to find out the spell's formula. Reading more in-depth into the pages revealed several symbols, glyphs, and phrases from what I assume to be a long-dead language. Levitating a notebook from a nearby shelf, I began recording my findings. As it turns out, the spell wasn't a beautification spell as I had hoped. It really was a simple manifestation of inspiration. It seemed pretty simple compared to the spells back home.

As an earth wizard, it is expected of me to care for nature and all the creatures living in her. There is a small closet beside the stairs filled with animal feed and gardening equipment; I only require the birdfeed. After teleporting the bag, I filled a small bowl with the seed, left it out by the window, and waited. It took several minutes before a bird finally came by for the food. It was the same bluebird from earlier; he tweeted a greeting at me and began eating. I focused on the bird and charged my horn before casting the spell.

When the spell made contact, almost instantly, the bird was turned into an emerald statue. It was still bent over, a seed stuck in its mouth. I sat there analyzing it for hours to see if it genuinely was wholly transformed into an emerald. I eventually split it in half, half expecting the bird to pop back out of an emerald casing. Instead, all that remained was pure emerald. I crushed the emerald bird into fine dust with a mortar and pestle to hide the evidence. I wouldn't want someone to see this, especially Fluttershy.

I was interrupted from my research as one of the house's enchantments levitated a plate of vegetables onto my desk. The house takes the care of its occupant(s) very seriously and would be angry if I continued without eating. I sought to put my time to better use and teleported multiple spoons, forks, and knives from the kitchen to my desk and practiced the spell on them while I ate. The dinner was eaten in its entirety, and I had new cutlery made of silver, with little gems in the hilt. I made a complete set for each gemstone, Sapphires, rubies, and emeralds.

I didn't think that it had been that long since breakfast, so I looked at the clock. As it turns out, I had spent the past six hours studying, practicing, and researching the book. Not wanting anyone to grow suspicious, I left the comforts of my home and braved the streets of Ponyville once more. It was warm outside in the midday air; everything seemed comically fine. As in, everything seemed too perfect, a sense of peace about the whole town. It was nice, truthfully; I sat down for a moment just before crossing the bridge into town and just enjoyed it.

I shouldn't have; however, I should've known not to let my guard down like that. In the calm, peaceful evening air, I relaxed to such an extent that I actually managed to fall asleep. One should never fall asleep outside on a well-disposed afternoon. That's when reality strikes you down like the foolish dog you were for making such an error. When reality struck, it did so in the form of yelling over in the town square. I assumed a fight was going on and wanted to see what it was, though I should've known better. Teleporting behind a nearby house, I realized it was just the mane six fighting over those gala tickets.

Parties aren't usually where I feel comfortable, but I knew that the Grand Galloping Gala would be the right place to find plenty of old magical artifacts. If that seventh element couldn't get me home, I'm sure something Princess Celestia is hoarding there would. Twilight ran off to get herself and the drake a bite to eat at a local restaurant. I made sure that I was just one step behind them, watching them from the shadows. As I heard the mare yell, "I CAN'T DECIDE!" I knew exactly what to do and when to do it. I cast a water absorption spell on the ground and myself to collect all the water from Rainbow's attempt to schmooze the ticket from its owner.

The water started to pour all around the restaurant, say for one table, the one in which Twilight and Spike sat; I was content to watch instead of being involved. Rarity arrived shortly after, carrying an umbrella, which signaled for me to leave. I forced the water down into the earth with my magic and had it follow behind me as I trotted my way back to the Everfree, where I would capture a ticket for myself.

Healers aren't very good at the 'minion' thing; that's more of a conjurer's territory. What they lack in strength, they make up for in versatility, in my opinion. These spells are illegal by almost every magic council, as there are no good applications. When mixed with water, dirt makes mud, throw an earth core into the mixture, and you've got a temporary minion. Mother had to teach me this next one. Stand planted like a tree, and let your magic spread underneath you like roots. Connect your source to the roots of a tree, and you can see through the bark, stems, or leaves of any plants connected to the roots. It's illegal on the Isles, too, just not for the royal family.

I connected to Twilight's home, the Golden Oaks Library, and teleported my mud spawn in the back of the library. Her house smelled like a princess's tower made of wood, with a hint of books. The books inside seemed interesting. I had no time for reading, though, as the door opened and Spike entered the library. My plan sprang into action as I telepathically made the mud minion scale its way up the backside of the house and into the second-story window. The creature avoided the bed and slugged its way up the inside wall, and stalked the dragon from above.

With a sickening squelch, the mud beast fell from the wall and onto the floor, growling aggressively. "AHHHH!" The drake screamed in terror. The creature launched sticky mud at him, sticking him to the wall. "Sweet Celestia! What are you?!" My mud creature wrenched the tickets from him, swallowing one and throwing the other to the floor. Once the ticket had been acquired, there was no need to keep the minion alive. I set off his earth core from the Everfree, causing the mud minion to collapse and leave a big muddy stain all over the library.

When I stopped giving orders to the minion and returned to my equine body, I found that the ticket was lying in front of me. Sure, it was covered in muck, but it was mine. Knowing that my being here may be clarified as strange, I left and returned home. The grass crunched under my joyous hooves while a pleased smile remained on my face. I was so caught up in my successful mission that I wouldn't notice that my flank and back legs were covered in mud and dirt until I got home.

Later, after thoroughly cleaning the ticket and hiding it inside my desk, I rewarded my good work by going to bed earlier. I just needed to clean myself first. I entered the second-story bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. My green fur looked matted, and my brown hair was unkempt. I looked homeless, in all honesty. I turned on the water and waited for it to warm up before setting inside to take a bath. The smell of lavender soap in my fur and hair reminded me of what I fought for, I will have my revenge.

Trip to Sugarcube Corner? No, trip back to the Golden Oaks Library

It had been several days since I illegally acquired the Grand Galloping Gala ticket. Since then, I have become proficient at the inspiration manifestation spell. I've ventured into the Everfree multiple times and brought back flowers, leaves, and branches to use for decor. A golden chandelier dotted with a rainbow of gemstones lights up the living room. The seventh element of harmony, however, does and doesn't exist. It exists; it's there on my desk, where it's been for the past few days. But it has no readings; I can't find a single speck of magic anywhere on it or in it. It's essentially just some boulder with a cool carving in the center.

While waiting for the gala, I've been entertaining myself by messing with Twilight. Naturally, when I discarded my mud minion in her library, the earth core was left as well. She freaked out at it, assuming it was some new deformed breed of timberwolf. It wasn't anything major, a vine tripping her in the market, sounds of howling outside. Besides that, I've started going into town on a regular occasion. The townsfolk seem friendly enough; I'd almost swear I've made some friends if I required them.

I know, I know, friendship is magic and all that. As a member of the royal family, I was always taught to hesitate before growing attached. You never did know when one of your subordinates would need to be put down for treason or insubordination. When one must lead troops into battle, betrayal isn't an option. It also provided an excellent message to the other soldiers when one stepped out of line. Besides that, what good do friends do anyway?

Realistically all friends do is hold you back from achieving your personal goals. Instead of focusing on getting the job done, you're worried about how your actions will affect them or why they're staring at you like that? Anyway, It had occurred to me that I hadn't seen Pinkie Pie at all. I expected her to be a thorn in my side, but she never did prove to be a bother. I knew I would need to fix my mistake eventually, and what better time than the present?

After washing up and having a muffin, I left the house and made my way to town. The gravel crunched under my hooves as my eyes took in the beautiful scenery. I never mentioned it before, but I loved the flora here in Equestria. Its beauty is matched only by the campus back at the college. The campus had to be maintained by expert gardeners. Equestria, however, was just naturally this beautiful. Even the houses looked nice; the four-hand tribe was the only one to use thatch roofs back home. Their huts are nothing compared to the places here though, some of these homes even have two stories.

The winding pathways of the town continued to perplex me. It was never entirely clear what was where in the show, but I know I would eventually find Sugarcube Corner. I must have spent nine minutes trying to find my way around; at least the town hall and the library stood out. After turning what must have been the thirty-first corner, I saw something I hadn't expected. Twilight Sparkle was quietly sobbing behind a building. To find the element of magic crying was entirely inaccurate to the show. She didn't cry behind houses; she cries surrounded by friends. She wasn't even supposed to be crying now anyway; nothing has happened yet. Biting my tongue, I knew I had to at least check on her.

I quietly teleported a box of tissues from a nearby market stall and offered her one. She thanked me but never took a tissue. "I'm sorry, I just couldn't stand being in the library anymore." Twilight Sparkle -- not feeling at home in a library? What is the world coming to?

"What's wrong with the library? It isn't infested with termites, is it?" I asked the sniffling mare.

"It's my assistant, Spike; he's sick. His condition isn't getting any better. He's stopped eating; he can barely move -- I just couldn't stand seeing him like that." She had started crying again.

So something was wrong with Spike? He only got sick that one time around Winter Wrap-Up and never bad enough to warrant Twilight in tears. I had to know more.

"Couldn't you check him into the hospital? I'm sure they could help."

"We already have; they can't figure out what's wrong with him. They said they've never seen anything like this before."

A disease the local doctors can't figure out? You know I had to see this for myself. My pride couldn't allow it otherwise.

"I know a little bit about medicine; can I see him?" I asked with a friendly smile.

"Would you? I don't even know your name."

"Lively Hollow. I'm not from around here."

She reached out a hoof, and I shook it as if I didn't know who she was.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle. I'll take you back to the library."

With that, we walked to the library, which was currently closed. Likely because of Spike being ill. The lights were off, save for the lights in the upstairs bedroom.

"Thank you for taking a look at him; It means a lot." She said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"I'll see what I can do for him." She opened the door to reveal Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, whispering something into Spike's basket, seemingly trying to feed him some type of red soup.

"Fluttershy, I met a doctor in the market. He's here to see if he can help." Twilight said.

The yellow mare turned away from the drake and hid behind her hair. "I haven't been able to get a reaction out of him." She mumbled over to Twilight.

"We'll be downstairs so you can focus. Come back down when --" She couldn't finish the sentence as the tears welled back up in her eyes. I could hear her crying as she and Fluttershy walked down the stairs.

I hesitantly walked over to the basket the diseased whelp was lying in.
By Hades, the whelp looked horrid. He looked as if he'd been starved; his ribs were visible outside his scales. His eyes were a pus color instead of their usual green. His scales were falling off in some places and a sickly purple shade. The only noise that could be heard in the room was his wheezing breath. Casting a spell on my eyes allowed me to see into his body and find the cause of his disease. If the local doctors couldn't find it, they were either incompetent or caught off guard. I figured I could prove myself the superior healer, though I knew that already.

Scanning his mouth revealed a few brown particles of fluid under his tongue, hiding behind the red soup Spike was recently fed. Anyone else likely would've missed such a small detail. Removing the brown particle, I brought it closer to my eyes and put it under a magnifying glass-like spell.
It's a mixture of Everfree dirt and water, magically enhanced in some way.
My constant pursuit of knowledge led me to begin scanning the mud's magic field immediately. The magic was revealed to be an earth spell lightly tainted by ... shadow .... magic.

It had finally hit me.

I slowly brought my gaze back to the ... to Spike. I was the one who gave him this illness. ... I'm likely going to be the cause of this dragon's death. I felt a tear in my eye for just a second before wiping it away. I've killed dragons before, yes. They were all trying to either kill me, rob me, or oppose me, but Spike? He never did anything to me. I've just killed an innocent kid ... over a ticket to a party I wasn't even really interested in attending. I covered my face with a hoof and tried to muffle my crying.

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The screaming inside hadn't stopped. It's been an hour, and the screaming hasn't stopped. I was sat in the fetal position outside the doctor's office. I didn't know what to do with myself; I couldn't stand being inside watching the surgery. At the same time, I couldn't stand to leave. My family's always had trouble with bandits, but as long as we paid up, they tended to leave us alone. This gang wasn't like the other raiders I had met, though; they came to our farm in a big black and green ship—the picture of what looked to be a laughing dog on their sail. In just a few hours, I'd lost my home, my mom, and likely soon my dad.

I hated feeling this way. We were just farmers. We grew corn, potatoes, carrots, and sold our produce fairly. Why couldn't people just leave us be? Unbeknownst to me, my eyes and hands had begun to glow a beautiful shade of green never seen in this small desert country.
Go to him. I heard a voice sweet and strange inside my chest. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the 'him' he meant.

I bolted into the doctor's office and saw my dad sitting on the operating table. Blood was splattered everywhere as the doctor continued to pull lead out of dad's chest. Before the doctor could force me out, I shot a green beam of light out of my hands and into my dad's still injured body. To both mine and the doctor's astonishment, my dad seemed magically cured of his wounds.

"You're quite talented for someone so young." A voice behind me had said. A wrinkled, bearded man with blue piercing eyes had entered the room during all the excitement. He clapped his aged hands together, and in a puff of crimson magic, a letter had formed. "I can't force you, but if you want to get better at magic, we have a place for you back at the College of Wizardry. He handed me what appeared to be instructions on how to join this college. "Never lose that healing fire inside, and you'll never have a problem with bandits again."

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That old stranger would eventually become my headmaster at the college, and I've always held those words to be true. Never lose that healing fire. I haven't lost it yet, and I certainly wasn't going to lose it now. Building up magic in my horn, I levitated the young drake into the air and cast what some would consider 'healing overkill.' Numerous streaks of healing magic entered into him, bringing him back to his usual self, if still a bit underweight. Scanning him again revealed that he was seemingly completely cured of the illness I caused.

After lowering him back down into his basket, he looked up at me with his now healthy and exhausted eyes. "Who ... are you?" He asked.

"I'm Lively Hollow; Twilight brought me here to see if there was anything I could do to help you get better," I said as I tucked the young drake back under his blanket.

"I don't know what you did, but I feel better already. You must be really good at your job." With that, Spike went into a peaceful slumber, no longer hindered by illness. With the events of the day I moved away from Stag Valley, still playing in my head. I remembered what I fought for. I will have my revenge.

Author's Note

constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

I Can't Do This Alone

The room had fallen silent as I left the Golden Oaks Library's upstairs bedroom. Both the occupants, Twilight, and Fluttershy, were looking at me in shock.

"What happened? What did you do?" Twilight asked me in an accusatory way, likely inferring to the magic I used.

Quickly, I came up with a lie to cover my identity.
"I used a spell I learned from a hippogriff healer a while back. Spike will be fine after he gets some rest."

Sighs of relief came from the two mares as they thanked me for helping their friend.

I wish that were where it had ended. To return to my abode, or perhaps find my way to the bakery that had brought me outside in the first place. They would not let me leave, however. Instead, they insisted on speaking with me, almost as a scientist dissects an unfamiliar creature.
The fur on my back stood as the goosebumps began to take hold.

"Everyone was saying you looked.. weird during the summer sun celebration," Twilight said with this horrid look on her face. She looked as though an onion was being chopped across the room, and she could smell it from here. "Nobody saw you at the town hall when Nightmare Moon returned."

These magical horses need to learn to mind their own business. "Yes, I began to feel ill during the party and left to make sure that I didn't lose my lunch. No idea where it came from, truthfully."

"You looked like you were mad about something. We tried to get your attention, but you just kept glaring at the floor." Fluttershy replied, proving me wrong.

"That was me concentrating; I didn't want to make a mess in Twilight's new home," I kept a smile on my face, attempting to maintain a casual demeanor, but my heart beat faster as the conversation continued.

Twilight had a deadpan look on her face. "Your eyes turn green, and black magical smoke comes out of them when you concentrate?"

This foul cur has bested me; a prince never admits defeat, however!

"Yes."

They looked at me as if I had grown seventeen more heads.
"Oookay. Well, thanks again for helping Spike. I'll see you around town."

With that, I finally left the library and made my way to the bakery. I couldn't find the place from outside the town, but I knew the way from the Library thanks to watching the show. It looked to be around three in the afternoon, but it was nice outside. The only thing I could actually complain about were all the eyes watching me. I know I didn't go all out with my cleaning routine this morning, but surely I'm not that bad looking.

The bakery was decorated like a large dessert, I didn't intend to sample it, though. I doubt the place is made of sugar, as I couldn't find any bugs around the area.

Hearing "Hello, What can I do for you." knocked me out of my thoughts as a yellow, scrawny stallion looked at me with a smile; I recognized him as Mr. Cake.

I put a smile on my face and replied, "Hey, Is Pinkie Pie here?"

"She's in the back right now, filling some orders. Hold on; I'll get her." Mr. Cake left the counter and put his head into the bakery's kitchen.

A few minutes later, Pinkie Pie came out of the kitchen and gasped loudly when she saw me. Just as quickly as she entered the room, she left. Mr. Cake was taken aback, he's likely never seen Pinkie act that way to somepony. He immediately ran over to her and asked what was going on.

I didn't quite hear what was said but I'm sure it wasn't good. I could only hear a few words, such as "Hurt," "I Don't," and a lot of crying. There were likely more but that was all that stood out. I'm not fond of crying ponies, so I decided to enter the kitchen. It was much bigger than the one in Fairytale back home, but I still found Pinkie Pie and Mr. Cake talking a little further away, they hadn't noticed me yet.

"It shouldn't be me that has to do this, but it needs to be done." I thought before walking over to the two ponies.
Mr. Cake's eyes were red and puffy, Pinkie Pie was just sniffling. I didn't want to upset her any more than she already was so I made sure to remain calm.

Why Mr. Cake was crying I didn't understand, but hey who am I to judge. I spoke in a warm and soothing voice as to not rile anyone up. "Pinkie, I just came here to apologize for my behavior during the Summer Sun Celebration. Could you ever forgive me?"

She wiped her tears and looked right at me. Her eyes were red, but she wasn't crying anymore. "Yeah, of course."
I smiled and the two of us shared a hug. With that, thankfully, my work for the day in Ponyville was done. Now I could return to the peace and quiet of my home and not have to put up with these ponies and their nonsense.
I left the bakery and waved goodbye to Mr. Cake and Pinkie Pie. Beyond the pleasantries of the Ponyville Citizenry, my thoughts were consumed by my plans of revenge.

The Solar Tree and the Grandparents of Creation still hold the power to bend the universe to their whim. They can easily break out of my grip. I still hold much power, but to challenge such might would be suicidal at best. Don't get me wrong, I'm a great wizard of earth magic, you wouldn't be hard-pressed if you even called me the best earth wizard in the universe, but even with my practice and study in storm magic and shadow magic, fighting them now would be a death sentence.

Just then, a fabulously horrible idea came to me as I walked back to my home on the edge of the Everfree Forest.
On my own I am great, but to truly get something done, you need an army. Even the small army of the Shimmering Isles was capable of great things, I should know, I led them to those great things. But they were lightyears away, and I had no way to contact them. I could buy the loyalty of some creatures, flex my magical muscles and make some creatures obey me out of fear, sure. But I had a far better idea.

The Mirror Pool.

The magical pool of water duplicated anything that is put into it. With that magic at my command, an army is just a few submerged creatures away. I didn't know exactly where it was, but I remembered the rhyme Pinkie's grandmother told her.

"Where the brambles are thickest, there you will find
A pond beyond the most twisted of vines."

It was as good a start as any, I'd just have to search the Everfree Forest until I could get something out of this clue.
A daunting task, but I had the time. Looking to the sky revealed it to only be noon, but just to be safe I went back home and packed a lantern and cloak with me. I'm not sure how long I'll be out there looking and I don't want to get rained on, just in case.

The eastern part of the Everfree Forest is where I'd start looking. It would be a hole in the forest floor that'd lead me down to the mirror pool. The brambles were indeed as thick as Pinkie's grandmother said they would be. It was taking me a while to get through this part of the forest and the mud was getting into my cloak, but I continued, universal domination didn't come easily. Yes, I was essentially lost in the Everfree forest and didn't care. There was something much more important that needed my attention. My mind wandered to plans for the pool. When I eventually find it, of course.

I looked at the trees for some kind of marker as to where the pool was. There wasn't one. I cursed my luck and kept my eyes peeled on the forest floor. By now, My fur was coated in mud and dirt. There was no turning back now though, I'd have to see this through. It had been hours since I had begun my search. Sunset approached rapidly, but I would not be hindered. The lantern that I brought with me illuminated the muddy path ahead of me.

I shook as I heard what sounded like hooves on wet soil. So I turned off the lantern and hid in the shadows. A yellow earth pony with a blue mane and tail shakily passed by. He looked frantic and terrified of everything around him.
Using my magic I entangled the yellow stallion in vines and kept him trapped, I never left my position in the shadows, even as he continued to struggle and yell. "Let me go! Who are you! Help! Help!"

I forced a vine into his throat to keep him quiet and only the muffled screams of panic and terror remained. He trembled in fear as I kept him stuck. Before I left the shadows, I wrapped a vine around his head so he couldn't see me. You can never be too cautious. I walked around the stallion's body and examined him closely. He was young, probably a few years younger than me. Decently muscular, with a bow and arrow cutie mark. I ran my hooves along his muscles and found them decent for now. He'd require some work, but I could make this man a proper .. soldier? worker? slave? Either way, he'd be mine. While his mouth and eyes were still unusable, I held my horn to his head and overwhelmed his mind with brainwashing thoughts of mind control, loyalty, obedience, and servitude.

His brain would need to marinate in these thoughts for a while, but I had time for now. Besides, I still had to find that mirror pool.

So, Ripping off the vines from the grass floor, I continued on my way with him held in my magic.
Occasionally, groans and moans would sound from the vine in his mouth as I walked, but I paid it no mind. I had work to do.

The sun had long since set and the moon was at its peak when I found it. A hole in the forest floor leading to a winding pathway down to the mirror pool. It shined brightly with the glowing plants near it. With The yellow stallion still in my magic, I slowly descended down the hole to the pool.

If the show was to be believed, the cave to the right of the pool led to a beautiful little spot where Maud Pie would eventually live. My magic easily tore an opening into the rocky cave and after a few seconds of breaking rocks, I found it. The waterfall rushed in the back of it and beautiful glowing gemstones lit the place up beautifully. I needed to get my work done, so I laid the still tangled-up stallion on the grassy floor and forced the vines to take root into the ground so he couldn't escape. Before leaving back to the mirror pool, I reinforced his brain with thoughts of slavery.
His spiraling eyes just looked at me gratefully. The hypnosis must be working.

This was delicate work, I knew that much already. The Mirror Pool would need to be moved from here to my house outside Ponyville without breaking the magical spell on it. I had a whole night and likely all of tomorrow to complete this task.

I forced vines down into the earth with my magic and wrapped them around the rocky edge of the mirror pool. They slowly pulled it up with the strength of several earth ponies. It made a ripping sound as it came away from the earth, but I wrapped another vine around the pool to keep the pieces from falling apart. It was a miracle, not a drop had spilled, or worse, the bottom falls out of the pool and spills the water all over the ground. I tossed the vines aside and levitated the pool behind me as I finished my trek out of the cave.

It was still several miles to my home, but that didn't matter. The walk back was a bumpy ride the entire time, trees, mud, bushes, and vines all attempted to stop my heist. They all failed, however. The Mirror Pool was mine and nopony would take it away from me. Eventually, I made it back home. It was so late in the night that it was practically early in the day.

There was no way I'd fit it in my house, or even through the door. So I decided to burrow into the ground and build it a new home underground. It was quite ingenious if I do say so. I burrowed about 20 feet and cleared a large space for the mirror pool and also carved out a tunnel leading from my workroom to the pool to allow for easy movement.

I levitated the pool down through the floor into its new home and dropped it off. It was quite a sight, with the shining water in the reflection of the moon. It was almost like it was always there. Unfortunately, I couldn't leave it like that, giant holes rarely go unnoticed. Using my magic, I mangled up a fine layer of dirt over the floor to cover it and used my earth magic to grow enough grass to make it like normal forest flooring.

At this point, I was dead tired. But my work compelled me even as my eyes grew bags. I had to make sure this monstrosity wouldn't be found until it was too late. I decided to use my magic to grow trees and bushes to cover over the layer of dirt and rock as well as using vines and leaves to camouflage it into the trees. From a distance, it looked like it was never there in the first place. It was as if trees had spontaneously grown overnight.

My work was not finished yet, I had plenty more to do even as sleep threatened me. I ran as fast as my sleep-deprived body could go back into the Everfree, where the mirror pool once was. While I was running, I slammed my head straight into a tree so hard I sent some bark flying. I thought I saw some blood mixed in with it. At least that woke me up a bit so I could finish working. The hole in the forest floor wasn't too far from where I was when I slammed against the tree.

I raced my way down the pathway and into the cave, where I had left the yellow earth pony stallion. He was still there, happily smiling around the vine in his mouth as his wide-open, spiral-filled eyes stared up at nothing. I levitated him out and through the forest, and left the Everfree for hopefully the last time before a good long rest.

Back at my home, I dropped the earth pony stallion on the wooden floor of my home and once again reinforced the hypnosis to ensure that it sticks and he's entirely obedient and loyal to me. He was still happily smiling, so In my sleep-deprived state, I decided to test the stallion and removed the vines that held him stationary, as well as uncovering his mouth and eyes.

I was pleased to see his response from being freed from my vines. He immediately dropped low into a bow before me.
"Master, thank you for opening my eyes to the truth, I must obey you." He spoke happily.

I instructed the stallion, "You are not to leave my house under any circumstances. You will remain quiet and won't disturb me while I sleep, you won't touch anything either."

"Of course, master." The Stallion stood there and did not move. That same stupid smile remained on his face throughout.
Whether he obeys or not is another story, but for now, bed.

I went upstairs and crawled into bed, not caring to wash off the mud or dirt from my exploits today.
I was far too tired to care, and if my new slave was still there by morning, I'd just have him wash my sheets. As sleep descended upon my mind, I remembered what I fought for, I will have my revenge.

1 to 2, 2 to 4, breaking reality, blood on my hooves,

It was evening the next day when I finally woke up. Dried mud mixed with some grass and leaves clung to my fur as well as my bed. With the long trail of muddy hoofprints leading from the front door to the bedroom, I knew it was going to be a busy day, even with how much of it I wasted. It was only after walking downstairs and seeing the brainwashed yellow earth pony in the living room that I remembered what had happened.

"You're still here," I said, not as a question but a simple statement.

"Of course, I'm still here. You told me to not move and I will always obey my master." The earth pony said with his usual smile.

"My bedsheets are filthy, go wash them." Time to test his obedience.

"Yes, master." He spoke, walking towards the stairs.

Not enough to stall you? Very well, "After that, clean up all this mud." Another order.

"Of course, master." He repeated, still walking to the stairs.

If he does well, I'll keep him. If not, it won't be much to replace him. After he left, I heard the water pipes make a loud noise from his washing. I walked back upstairs and into the bathroom as I heard the familiar squelching and sloshing noises as he did his work.

"Geez, I really got myself filthy yesterday." I said as I looked at myself in the mirror. Just looking at myself caused me to wince as I remembered slamming my head into the tree on my way to get my slave. Dried blood was caked around the mark where I got hit, as well as some puss from an infection. A quick smirk moved onto my face, "Oh the perks of being a healer." I said as I easily and effortlessly cast a healing spell on my wound. I was lucky I entered this planet a unicorn or else it would have taken a long time to heal. As it was, the bleeding had stopped and the pain was gone in less than a minute.

Now, it was time for a nice long bath. I looked at myself in the mirror again. A nice long, hot, bath.
After having spent the entire day sleeping and then another hour of cleaning myself, I was finally ready to get to work again. I found myself looking at my slave, still sitting in the exact spot I had left him in. "Speak, Slave." I commanded.

"I await your orders, master." He responded without hesitation.

"Show me what you did while I was in the bath."

"I washed your sheets and cleaned mud off the floor." He still smiled, even as he spoke.

I had to examine his work, anything wrong could lead to disaster later if the hypnosis didn't stick. I looked at the sheets, it was clean and no mud clods were in it, he even used the lavender detergent I liked so much. Likewise, the floor had been expertly cleaned, as if he had scrubbed and scrubbed until his hooves bled.

"Your work is satisfactory, now come with me." I commanded, leading him up the stairs and into my room. The door was closed behind us and we sat on my bed.

"Lay down," I said, motioning towards the bed.

"Yes, master." He responded happily, immediately laying down on the bed. Cutie marks are powerful things. Who's to say it's pull over him doesn't outrank my pull over him.

I stood over him as he lied on the bed, staring into his eyes. "You're good with a bow and arrow, correct?" I asked.

"Yes, master." He responded.

"Let me into your mind, slave." I demanded, making sure to maintain the dominant hold I had over him.

"Of course, master." He responded. Then, his eyes glazed over and he fell into a trance. I started the process of overriding his brain. Removal of his likes and dislikes and removing them with thoughts of obedience and servitude were the first things on my list. After that, I would have to make sure he stayed a loyal slave. So I made sure that he liked serving and obeying. I made sure he disliked disobedience to me and independence from me. He needed to be entirely reliant on me and my commands. If he was going to be my slave, he needed to be absolutely hopeless without me. After a few minutes, I had finished the process and moved onto my next goal: the replacement of his life.

He had a family and friends of course, I just needed to make sure he viewed me as more important to him than any of them. I started by replacing his love for his family and friends. He needed to care more about what I thought than what they thought. I worked hard on that all night, and finally in the early hours of the morning I was able to finish it.

Last thing: his cutie mark, It had to go and I was going to be his surrogate cutie mark. I needed to be as present in his mind as his cutie mark now was. With some shadow magic and earth magic mixed together, I removed his cutie mark from his flanks. I was careful to make sure I could put it back on there if I needed to, but for now, it was gone.

Once I had done that, I woke him back up and started asking him questions about himself. The hypnosis wasn't even really there anymore, it's work had been done expertly and I'm sure mother would've been proud of my usage of the mind control spell she designed. I asked him. "Do you have any family?"

"No, they are not important to me." He responded.

"What about friends?" I asked.

"I had some, but they aren't important to me." He responded once again.

"What is important to you?" I questioned.

"Serving you, master. You are the only family and friend I need or want." The stallion responded with a smile.

"What do you like to do?" I said, testing his new loyalty to me, to make sure it had taken hold.

"I like to serve you, master. It is the only thing in life I like to do." He responded.

Perfect.

"What do you not like?" I continued with my questions.

"I do not like disobedience or people who disobey you, master." He responded perfectly.

"That's a good slave, now follow me to my workroom," I said, turning and heading to my workroom, eager to get my work done.

The entrance to the tunnel leading to the mirror pool wasn't covered, it was a simple hole in the floor using a tree for a ladder. Dark and cold rock and dirt filled the tunnel and sent a chill to mine and my slave's bones. It was clear that my plans would require a very special touch. The entire thing needed to be fixed up, but first, more slaves.
I emerged from the tunnel, it's darkness giving way to a dimly lit room with the shimmering of the Mirror Pool.

To tell you the truth, I don't know why I asked my slave this question. "What do you think of the mirror pool, slave?"

"It's a beautiful sight, master. It is mesmerizing." He responded with awe as he moved closer to the surface so he could see his reflection.

"Indeed..." I responded as I violently shoved him into the pool.

Now if I recall correctly, A magic spell must be spoken for the pool to work.

"And into her own reflection she stared,
Yearning for one whose reflection she shared,
And solemnly sweared not to be scared
At the prospect of being doubly mared."

Speaking the phrase made me uneasy, I hope the pool didn't mind that I wasn't the one who entered and that the pony who did enter was a stallion. To my satisfaction, There was a flash in the water's reflection and then it quickly cleared to show me my slave, as well as his new twin brother. The mirror pool had worked perfectly as expected, and my number of slaves had been doubled. I wasted no time and levitated them back out of the pool and onto the tunnel's floor.

He stared at me with adoration, and the original kept the smile on his face that he's had since I enslaved him. "Master, what are your orders?" He asked me this with a tone of kindness, they had both become so much more agreeable since I stripped them of their free will.

"Both of you, back into the pool." I commanded and they complied. Again the spell was cast, and after the light had flashed, four enslaved yellow stallions left the pool.

"Perfect, absolutely perfect." I continued to congratulate myself as I looked upon the four slaves. I knew I'd want more, but right now, there was other work to do. Namely, a lot of construction work, as well as resource gathering. A quick teleportation spell later and the five of us were back in the living room of my house.

"Slaves, I want you four to talk to each other the entire time I'm gone," I commanded. My home was soon filled with the sounds of four happily obedient slaves talking to each other. With that, I left my home and entered the crisp morning air of the outskirts of Ponyville.

I let out an exhale as my plans were slowly coming together. Assuming that the mirror pool's magic never fades, wears off, corrupts, or breaks, I'll have a never-ending army of loyal ... slaves sounds a bit backward honestly. Maybe I should call them minions instead.

That small tunnel connecting my workroom and the mirror pool would have to be thoroughly enlarged. I'd make it much bigger if I could but too big would gather some unwanted attention. I'll need a room for the stallions to eat and sleep will be necessary, as well as other amenities, like a lab, control room, armory, prison ... and definitely a room for outfitting the minions. If all my minions looked the same it would be too obvious.

I was removed from my planning and scheming by the sound of hundreds of heavy hooves smashing against the grass.
A scream rang out from Ponyville. "STAMPEEEDE!" Immediately I knew what had happened, It's applebuck season. I had assumed that either wasn't going to happen, or it already did after I stole that ticket. I must've been in Equestria for at least 2 weeks by now. That's what I thought anyway since time was much different here. Days and nights were shorter, and to be fair I hadn't asked anyone how long a year or month is here since that would dispense more attention, but I could only assume they were different than the years and months we had back home.

Now that I knew what exactly was going on in town, I decided to not go into Ponyville and instead headed for the Everfree Forest to gather resources I would need for the construction of the tunnel system I Intended to build. Looking at the forest, I was reminded of the first day I arrived here. How absolute power was close at hand until those three sent me here. But there was time to reminisce on old times later, now I'll need plenty of met....als.

I fell back onto my haunches and sat in disbelief. Instead of traveling all over, digging up metal ore, forging it into a fashion where it's usable for my needs, could I simply use the Inspiration Manifestation Spell to turn something common and plentiful into what I need? "That ... would certainly save me an awful lot of time ..." Without further hesitation, I ran back into my home and into my workroom where I rummaged through old books on the periodic table and chemistry. My minions continued to speak to each other about this and that even as I ran past them. As I grabbed an empty tome, I began writing.

"All things are matter, which would include oxygen." I wrote in the book as thoughts, theories, and ideas flooded my mind. "Theoretically, the Inspiration Manifestation Spell could be used to convert oxygen into anything." You knew exactly what this was, this type of magic was illegal as far as every government universe wide went, including your own kingdom. Nobody took over the universe without breaking a few rules, though.

Gathering the two books, some quills, and ink, I teleported myself outside to start practicing my theories. The initial thought on my mind was how converting oxygen into a solid metal would affect the environment. Even though committing crimes are common for me, I still prefer a beautiful green world. I remember from the show that Rarity cast the spell on Spike and gave him that odd crystalline armor, but since the transformation happened off-screen, I couldn't tell if she used the dirt around him to do that or if she simply used oxygen.

I gathered my strength in my horn and reached out to feel the air in front of me.
In a flash of light, oxygen was ripped from the air and used to create copper just as I wished. It wasn't very pretty, it was a misshapen blob, but it was copper.

"YES!"

I feverishly began taking notes on the process of converting oxygen into a different matter. I continued to practice until I could create perfectly spherical balls of whatever metal I was aiming for. "This ... this is amazing," I spoke in amazement of the power I wielded. Now I would push the spell to its limit.

If oxygen can produce a solid ball of metal, does it matter how much oxygen is used? I sat upright and closed my eyes in concentration as I shrank my magical grasp to the size of a pinprick. My magic had about two inches of oxygen into its grasp before I started breaking the laws of reality. As I added more force into the spell, the two inches of oxygen quickly grew, distorted, and stretched. The force of the spell was visible as a wave of energy erupted from my horn.
I could feel the laws of reality being broken as I continued to stretch the oxygen into a horribly disfigured ball of steel.
the ball grew and grew until it was as big as my house.

I had to hide the evidence quickly, and even though my head had started to hurt with the strain, I couldn't be discovered. Wrapping my magical grasp around the disfigured steel ball, I funneled heat into and around it as such an intensity that it melted. The ball turned into a puddle of liquid steel that I quickly funneled away.

"Whatcha doin'?"

My heart stopped when I heard that high-pictched voice ask me such a question. I turned behind me to see who it was,
I knew this filly, I just couldn't remember her name. White fur, red mane, and purple glasses. I don't like to admit it, but I panicked. Without thinking about it, I focused on the filly's brain with my magic and converted it into rock.
I didn't know what came over me. She just asked a question. I guess the feelings of guilt and paranoia got to me.

The now lifeless little filly fell onto the ground and her head hit the dirt with a thud. Adrenaline flowed through my body like blood and I teleported myself, the filly, and the steel inside of my home.
She didn't even have her cutie mark yet. That one thought played on repeat in my head even as I hardened back the steel and left it in the living room.

My nose had started to run a bit and I sniffled to counteract it. The slaves continued to speak to each other until I spoke in a broken whisper "Stop." My four stallion slaves obeyed and ceased their chatter.
I could not believe what I had done. I had killed a little filly. She didn't even have her cutie mark yet.

Even the four stallions knew something was wrong, the original one came closer to me slowly and placed his hoof on my back comfortably. "It's alright, master. It'll be alright. We're here for you." he said in a comforting tone.

"Get off." I replied sadly. The slave had no choice but to obey. I attempted to swallow my sadness just enough so I could get back to work. Picking the filly up in my magic, I walked with her into my workroom. I made this mess and I'd clean it up. The building was silent, no noise interrupted me from my sorrow.

Through great effort and a few failed attempts, I turned the rest of the filly's body into a large emerald. I looked at the beautiful gem in front of me and remembered the lifeless eyes it once held.

Closing my eyes to spare myself the sight, I conjured up a large mortar and pestle that could fit the fi- gem, I conjured up a large mortar and pestle that could fit the gem and set the gem inside it. After a few deep breathes, I could continue on my work. Wrapping my hooves around the wooden stick, I began the process of breaking the singular large gem into many smaller ones. The soft ca-chunk of wood on the gem soothed my aching heart as the gem broke into smaller and smaller pieces. Eventually, I had made around fifteen emerald gems out of the one. These had to be removed, not temporarily, not partially, permanently. Only one creature can truly get rid of gems, dragons, and I only know the exact location of one dragon. Washing myself off and hiding any evidence of wrong doing, I headed off for the Golden Oaks Library with the emeralds.

I traveled through the roads of Ponyville and the scenery didn't make me happy. I saw the happy ponies going about their lives not knowing that inside, I was miserable. I've lost a bit of touch with reality.

I just had to get rid of the -- I just had to make sure Spike was alright, he did seem pretty sick last time I saw him. As a good healer, I should check up on my patients every now and then. I found myself lying to myself more and more.

I pushed the door into the library open and was immediately met with friendly faces and warm greetings from Spike and Twilight.

"Hey Lively, here for a book?" Twilight asked.

"Oh no, I'm just here to check on Spike, how's he feeling?" I asked in an innocent tone.

"Oh, he's feeling pretty good, all things considered. He was just asking about you actually."

I needed the subject changed from that. "I brought some emeralds for him to help him get some of his strength back from that illness he caught." That I caused.

"You brought me gems?" The excitable dragon asked.

"Of course I did, Have to make sure you're doing alright." I replied smoothly and levitated a small box of what used to be the f-- I gave him the gems.

"Thanks a lot Lively, you're the best!" He said before gobbling up the gems.

"Heh, no problem." I replied with a fake smile. With each bite Spike took of those gems, he destroyed more and more evidence. Not that anything happened, everyone is fine, I'm fine, Spike's fine, Twilight's fine, the filly's ... fine ... nothing
happened.

Within less than a minute's time, all of the gems were consumed. "Those were really good, Lively, thanks for everything you do for me."

I couldn't stay in there any longer. I just wanted to go home and sleep this night off.

"Don't mention it, Spike, It's what I'm here for."

With that, I left the library and returned home. I dared not continue to work, right now I needed sleep. I didn't care that it was noon, now was time for bed. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing as I drifted off to sleep. My mind was blinded by emotion, thoughts flew this way and that, the construction, my slaves, Ponyville, applebuck season, Spike, the grandparents of creation. I remembered what I was fighting for, I would have my revenge.

Author's Note

This took much longer than it should have :facehoof:

Quiet Thought Processes and Ideals for the Future

I was nearing the end of the week and had finally gotten the soul of a dead child to stop weighing me down. Don't get me wrong, I've killed many creatures, but never any children. I know that sounds kinda funny, killing some is okay but others aren't. An adult can usually choose the direction they're going, but children can't. Darn it, I'm rambling again. Forgive me my scattered brain, I've been doing a lot these past few days. The construction, maintaining the slaves, and planning for the future has taken up a lot of my mental faculties.

I started thinking about what I'd do once I got back to the cosmic heart, how to beat the grandparents this time. Like many wizards before me, I've dabbled in solar and lunar magic. No wizard in recorded history ever had the capacity to raise or lower the sun or moon though. Here though, the rulers of Equestria were able to do that near effortlessly. That's only two of the princesses of Equestria, there were three others too. Princess Cadance, Princess of Love, and Twilight Sparkle, who will one day be the Princess of Friendship. Solar and Lunar magic like what Equestria has, has never been seen, and were someone with my knowledge to have access to such power, I'd be near unstoppable. In a similar manner, Love magic has never truly been tried before. I'm not even entirely sure how it works, assuming it works as a cupid's arrow sort of deal, It could also be useful.

My kingdom was built from conquest, mother took over land and people and used it to build the Shimmering Isles. I may not be as magically skilled as her, but I'm no slouch. I will conquer Equestria, and return to the cosmic heart. I won't just return and fight the grandparents of creation, I will decimate them with the magic of Equestria. To do that, however, Equestria must fall. It won't be easy, but I've conquered plenty for mother, and I certainly could do so again. I've spent these few days underground building my base of operations, it's not much. I have a barracks, cafeteria, and a dressing room, perfect for my ten minions. My yellow, cutiemark-less, pegasus stallions are quite eager to get to work and I know the perfect thing to start them out on -- apple farming.

Three of my minion's fur was dyed brown and green so they would blend in well with the tree and leaves of Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack is currently working to harvest multiple fields of apples all by herself since her brother was injured, she won't be able to do it alone. Twilight will try to help her, but Applejack will decline. With my minions helping her, the work will go by much easier, and it shall also increase Applejack's confidence in her independence. Which shall allow her to remain stubborn in her belief of not asking for help which I believe will aid me later.

It would be their first mission and they'd be doing it in absolute secrecy, were they to be found out the entire mission would be null. This also meant they'd be doing it alone. From what the show was willing to show us, she'd be alone for most of the work and we knew that Applejack would gather exactly half the apples required, So that will make the job easier for us. She will work one half and the slaves shall work the other side of the field.

I was currently upstairs in the bath, cleaning myself and getting ready for the award ceremony for Applejack, It was the first time I truly could attend to my hygiene to my usual standards, there wasn't an ounce of dirt on me. I smelled of lavender and vanilla as my slaves left for Sweet Apple Acres and I would soon follow them outside. Because of the work that needs done, I will have to be outside for the majority of it. I shall have her work done in half the time it takes now, which will ultimately influence Rainbow Dash launching into Twilight's library, and Pinkie Pie's muffin baking later. Hopefully, it all works out as I intend.

Just outside the town hall, a large crowd of Ponies waited for Applejack to arrive. I quickly hid myself in the massive cocoon of pony flesh and lowered my head to appear as if I was looking at the ground. From my horn I sent out a spectral ear to listen in on the conversation at the front. Yes, they had a microphone, but where I was so far back I had trouble hearing them.

"Welcome, everypony! Today we are here to honor a pony we can always count on to help in matters great and small. A pony whose contributions to--" Twilight spoke before being cut off by Rainbow Dash.

The scene continued like this for a few minutes, my healer instincts kicked in for a few seconds as I used some of my magic to spy on Spike just so I knew he was alright. When both Pinkie Pie and Applejack started looking at themselves at their reflection in the trophy, I knew it was time for me to move. I left just before Applejack could leave with her trophy and started to walk around the town at a leisurely pace while letting my mind wander. In theory, me walking along the outer road of Ponyville would give the appearance that I knew where I was going while also giving off the appearance of normalcy.

To anyone looking, I was just another completely normal pony going about their day. To my dissatisfaction, I was met with a crying Applebloom, royal guards, and missing posters instead. I would not interact with any of them but judging by the picture of the filly I killed a few days ago, Twist. It was clear that Applebloom missed her friend, but I knew she'd make new ones soon and I never made eye contact with the guards. Unfortunately for me, the guards wanted to speak with me.

A white-furred stallion with blue eyes proceeded to ask me numerous questions.

"State your name and Occupation." He demanded.

I didn't particularly care, and besides, ponies are unusually trusting. " Lively Hollow, currently unemployed."

He pulled out a notebook from under his golden armor. "Lively Hollow, huh? Says here you're known amongst the residents as a hermit and you're reported to have offered medical services to one Spike Dragon, is this correct?"

Cursed horse, he's spoken with Twilight. What else does he know about me. "This is correct."

"Where were you on the day of Twist's disappearance?" He asked.

"I stayed home that day, I wasn't feeling well." I replied convincingly.

"Your home is located in the small stretch of land between the Everfree and Ponyville, correct?"

"This is also true."

"It was reported that both Twist and Applebloom were playing around that area that day, and you heard nothing from either?"

Applebloom was there too? I don't remember seeing her anywhere that night. I looked over at her while she sat on a bench, seemingly lost without her friend. That look in her eye as she saw me, she knows what I've done.

Author's Note

Please, tell me what you think, I haven't wrote anything in a while.

Discovering in the Everfree and a Failed Party Attempt

Fun fact about the elemental houses, they all come packed with several tea variations. I took a sip, leaning back in my cozy chair. While I was never a big tea drinker myself, I often had to partake in tea drinking on diplomatic missions. Even though I wanted to stay inside and enjoy the warmth from my fireplace and tea, I knew I had to get back out there and discover some way back home. Putting my teacup in the sink to be cleaned later, I left my home and went out to the Everfree Forest.

By the time I left, it was sunset, which left the forest with only a few gloomy, orange slivers of light trying futilely to provide light to the entire forest. Not that this bothered me; after all, every novice spellcaster learns a few light spells. It was then that I heard the sound of a treant's awakening. I know I didn't summon one, which meant only one thing -- timberwolf. Likely more than one as well, unfortunately. I stood motionless on the path, poised up-right and ready to fire a blast at a moment's notice.

The beast lunged at me from behind me, so I tilted my head upward and shot at him without even having to turn around. Half the timberwolf shattered into splinters, and the rest of it melted into a green puddle that soon was absorbed back into the earth. Where once a vicious beast stood, a red Amaryllis flower now gently waved in the breeze. In truth, it was quite beautiful. I waited there a few minutes longer, waiting for another one to attack. Nothing ever came of this; however, it seemed I had bought myself some safety for a little while longer. After walking for a few more minutes, I finally reached the Two Sisters' castle.

It stood tall and dilapidated, the grounds overgrown with weeds. It wouldn't surprise me if the castle was haunted. Save for the noise from my hooves on the cold stones, the court was silent. I looked up at the sky and noticed that I still had quite a bit of light from the sunset left. With some time to kill before utter darkness and the return of Princess Luna, I walked into the library and helped myself to some hidden knowledge.

Sitting down on my haunches, I tried to deduce the location of that book that Spike found in inspiration manifestation. It was somewhere in the library, but with how big the library is, that didn't narrow it down much. It was behind a wall, not a bookcase, from what I remember. Considering that it wouldn't lead to outside the castle since the book was contained in a small room, its location narrowed down to either the left or right side of the library -- or the middle.

"second to last shelf, second shelf to the bottom, brown book in the corner," I repeated to myself in a whisper. Following what I remembered from the show, I eventually found a bookcase that matched. I pulled the brown book in the corner, revealing a locked cage door. I knew how unlikely it was that this book would help me get back to my home universe. Instead, I would use the book to fund my research and experiments. The cage door wasn't a problem; I just pulled the door off its hinges with my magic and threw it into the surrounding pit.

Knowing better than to walk on the stairs, I levitated the book over to me. It felt as though it were made of stone rather than leather or fabric. I held it to my chest and went back out of the castle to instead move over to a tower left off by itself. It remained just as I remembered it; the elements of harmony sat on their strange display. Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, Magic, and ... "since when were there seven elements?" I asked myself with incredulity. Levitating the last element over, I began to examine it. It looked just as the other ones did, trapped in a rock. At least I know that this one won't be needed at dawn.

With this seventh element of harmony and the inspiration manifestation book, I left the two sisters' castle and ran my way back home. Nightfall had come, and I knew better than to miss Pinkie Pie's Welcome to Ponyville party. I especially wouldn't want her to start snooping around and figuring out that I don't quite belong here. Skidding to a halt right outside my door panting, I opened my door and slammed it shut just as fast as it opened. Looking at the clock revealed that I was quite late for the party. I hid the book and element on my alchemy table and went into the adjoining bathroom.

Of all the things the magic council could've done to change the elemental house, them putting curtains in the earth house was one of my favorites. Back in the day, you'd just have windows into the bathroom, which led to plenty of spying on people showering, or worse. The shower was built for a human, but this didn't make it unusable to a pony. It just meant I had less room to move. The water never runs out, suitable for research in hot climates. Using a prepackaged tiny bottle of shampoo and body wash, I jumped into the shower and cleaned off the scent of trees, dust, and old magic.

The town looked beautiful at night; I almost wanted to spend the entire night outside merely exploring the town. I knew better; however, when Pinkie is throwing a party, she won't rest until you've had it. This needs to go well, so I need to put on a show and give them exactly what they want. I smiled and made my way to the Golden Oaks Library. The number of lights and voices assured me that this was the place, not that I needed much more assurance.

I used my magic to enter the library; the party was still going strong. The music played, the ponies danced, there were only three large cups for us all to share, so you know we'll all be sick in a few days. I found a corner and just stood there, smiling, almost like a non-playable character from a video game. Considering I was one of at least nine ponies doing this, it wasn't a big deal. Some of the ponies had gone off into their own little groups of twos and threes. The largest group was the mane 6 -- now the mane 5, what with Twilight being upstairs.

Pinkie Pie somehow appeared behind me, no noise, no distortion of air, nothing. If this horse eventually turned evil, I know there'd be no hope for anyone surviving.

"WELCOME TO PONYVILLE, LIVELY HOLLOW!" She said before blowing some confetti noisemaker at me. I was momentarily caught off guard because I had never mentioned my name to her. Then I remembered that she was Pinkie.

I smiled at her in a stereotypically happy way and thanked her. Being extra sure that I pushed how much I loved parties, purely for her benefit, of course. She rambled on about some such, but I was busy looking behind her. A small, slightly chubby purple dragon walked across the library and stood next to Rarity. Sure, I knew he existed, but seeing him in the flesh reminded me of one of his episodes. Somewhere in season three, I think, he will get in trouble and need to be saved. I usually wouldn't outright care, but I would have to take advantage of this for the chance to have him indebted to me for life.

When I eventually brought my attention back to Pinkie Pie, I realized she wasn't even talking anymore. She was only making guttural noises and smiling at me. I tried to smile cutely in hopes that this would placate her. It must've worked because she ran off to 'get something,' as she said.
It then began to make sense to me. If there were secretly seven elements, then the seventh likely belonged to Spike. I'll be making sure he doesn't get it before a time when I can safely discard it. I sat down and put my hoof to my muzzle in thought, what will happen when he goes looking for the book and can't find it?

Figuring everything happens the same way, he'll likely just be disappointed that he unlocked a secret passageway, and it revealed nothing. I could live with that for now. I would have to do some research on that book too. I know the magic is dark, but dealing with dark magic is nothing new. Supposedly it also has some small amount of mind control magic with it. I'll need to be careful when I return home. When I snapped out of my thoughts, I noticed that everyone in the room was looking directly at me. My eyes shrunk, and I apologized profusely before having a blindfold wrapped around my eyes, a piece of fabric shoved into my hoof; I was then spun around like a spinning top.

I had no idea what was going on and teleported myself a few blocks away in an attempt to gather myself. I didn't expect that to happen at all; I figured that they'd gladly leave me alone. "Lively." I heard from behind and turned around just enough to see Pinkie Pie was standing there; she looked sad. I felt my heartbeat race and knew that I needed to play this cool. She's already got me out here, alone, singled out. She needs to lose this line of reasoning. I came up with a quick response and handed her back her blindfold, and what I now know is a tail.

"You'd better get back to the party," I said with a smile. "The rest will be wanting a turn." Pinkie Pie just kept staring, looking sadly at me like I just told her she was a slave for life.

I gasped in faux surprise. "Pinkie, there's a building full of ponies over there that aren't smiling." Just more staring. "The sun will rise soon, shame the party planner left. You really should return." She started walking towards me, her hair has deflated, and she looked as though she was lost. I smiled cutely again; it worked last time. She wrapped her hooves around me in what I recognize as a hug. I kept my smile on during the entire thing; she wouldn't catch me again.

She eventually let go of me and walked somberly back to the library. I hated that; this entire thing was a bust. It's basically guaranteed that she'll come back and -- I teleported myself home.

I had a book that makes what you imagine come to life, an element of harmony, and now the pink one's unlikely to leave me alone. I'm no closer to being home than I was this morning. This couldn't have gone any more wrong. These ponies can't be trusted. Despite the day's events, I still remembered what I was doing here, what I fought for. I will have my revenge.