Part VII: Magmus

AUTHOR'S NOTE: THE TEXT IN RED AND BEYOND SIGNIFIES THE PARTS OF THIS CHAPTER I HAVE YET TO REWRITE. I ADVISE YOU TO NOT READ PAST THE RED TEXT IN ORDER FOR THERE TO NOT BE ANY CONFUSION DURING YOUR READING EXPERIENCE. THANK YOU.

Part VII: Magmus

There aren't many sounds after my omnipotent roar fades into the background of the world, save for the several fires that continue to rage throughout the destroyed Ponyville. Not a single soul moves for what seems like hours, but in actuality is only minutes. Time is funny like that. My chest heaves to regain all the breath I'd lost, my throat slightly sore. I can hardly believe what had happen in the past... five minutes? ten minutes? half-hour? Time feels muddled to me for a while. From what I could understand and compute, I scared away an entire flock of hungry, merciless dragons.

Coming back to reality, I look down and find Apple Bloom trembling at my feet, slightly quaking with her hooves covering her ears and her eyes shut tightly. I gently nudge my now-clawed foot against her, and she hesitantly peeks her eyes open. She looks around for a moment, taking in the scenery. I can't even imagine what must be going through this poor filly's head as she catches glimpses of the decaying corpses of ponies and burning remains of the what is left of the pony village. Apparently not wanting to pay any more attention to it than necessary, her gaze turns up to me. Her gaze at me isn't one of fear, surprisingly (which would have been appropriate since I did mysteriously transform into a creature that could scare away thousands of dragons with a single roar), but one of gratitude. She stands up on four, wobbly hooves, and I get a better idea of her physical well-being.

Her coat has smears of smoke hear and there, as well as some blood on the bottom of her hooves. However, since she isn't showing any obvious signs of blood-loss such as fatigue or paleness, I conclude it wasn't her own. Her apple-red mane is disheveled and also stained with soot, and her bow that she had worn yesterday isn't sitting on her head either. For the most part, though, she appears to be okay. And that's all I can ask for.

Apple Bloom smiles weakly at me, her lively, amber eyes beaming as she says, "Th-Thanks a bunch, Michael."

I smile lopsidedly in reply, and I wonder what that looked like, since my face transformed too. At first, I didn't really think about what I look like. I just sort of accept it. And hey, who knows? Maybe I'll revert back into a human after some time passes. Now, however, there's something else more prominent to me.

"What the hell were you doing out here?" I ask.

The filly bites her lower lip, then answers, "Ah-Ah was over at Sweetie Belle's this mornin', tryin' t'convince her t'let me help her git her cutie mark..." She trails off, and her eyes drop. "But she still wouldn' let me. S-So when I left her house, that's when those things came." Her amber eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. "Oh mah gosh! Sweetie Belle! Ah-Ah gotta--"

"Apple Bloom?" I look over my shoulder, and the purple dome that had been protecting Twilight's home earlier had almost completely dissipated, sinking into the ground on all side. Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash, who, for whatever reason, are still sticking around, staring wide-eyed in my direction. Then, Applejack dashes off, her stetson flying back off her head as she races to her sister. "Apple Bloom!"

Apple Bloom, eyes watering with joy and momentarily forgetting about her friend, blasts off to reunite with her elder sibling, crying, "Applejack!"

The overjoyed ponies gallop and collide into each other's embraces, letting their sobs be heard across the graveyard of Ponyville. A little flame of contentment warms my core at the loving sight, siblings reunited safely.

I bring my head up and point my face to the sun, my eyes closing to soak up its cleansing rays, smiling all the while. I can feel my wings spread out to either side of me, also wanting to embrace the golden light. Then, I feel several muscles in my lower back twitch, then undulate outward to a new set of muscles that came along with the wings in a matching set. Opening my eyes to the sudden sensation of newly developed muscles, I try and turn my head as far around as I can to get a better look behind me. And I can see, despite my far-sightedness, extending from the base of my elongated spine is a massive, bleach white-skinned tail. Not only that, but I notice along my spinal column several small, golden spines sticking out, similar to Spike's green spines, angled downward aerodynamically. Getting as good an estimation as possible from the awkward angle I'm stuck in, the new limb is about maybe five feet in length, and it is thick, a discernible feature as I flex it experimentally. Amazingly enough, it's no harder to control than the wings, almost as if I had wings and a tail my whole life. I flex the tail upwards over my shoulder to examine the tip. The gold spines run along the top of my tail, as well, growing smaller and smaller as they reach the tip. The tip itself is capped by a golden extension with a very sharp point, like a lance, reflecting the sun's rays in a brilliant shimmer.

Releasing the appendage, I continue to test and study the body I now possess. My body is entirely cloaked in white scales, although it feels more like I'm merely wearing a suit, because whenever I bend an arm or lift up a leg, the overlaying scales shift as if they aren't attached to my muscles at all. Examining the claws I now adorn, the once-blunt tips of my fingers and my not-so-trimmed fingernails merged easily into the newer, sharper ends. My forearms, biceps, triceps, and shoulder muscles, I note, are bulked up quite noticeably, however, not to the point where any movement is restricted in due part. My pectorals ballooned out a distinguishable amount and my shoulder-width broadened, making me look like one of those amateur body-builders back home. My lungs, I find, took deeper intakes of air to compensate for this sudden change to my anatomy and physiology. I wonder it my heart beat faster or slower in correspondence, but I don't notice anything different about that. Using my tongue as a probe, I explore the inside of my mouth, and all of my teeth became sharpened to a point, like shark teeth. My tongue itself feels longer, so I stick it out passed my lips to eye level. It isn't forked like a snake's, just a bit more finely-tipped. My four wings are, I feel by shifting my shoulders up and down, based just above the center of my back. They feel quite powerful, too, enough so to feel as though flying with them is very possible.

I'm going to have to try that out soon.

I look back at the duet of sobbing sisters and see that Applejack is looking right at me. Her puffy-red, emerald eyes meet my golden, dragon-slit ones. With Apple Bloom's weeping face smothering itself into the orange mare's shoulder and her hooves wrapped around her neck tightly in a hold that seemed like she wouldn't ever let go, the orange pony says with a thin, squeaky voice,

"Thank you."

I nod, smiling warmly.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight cries, galloping to the still-form of her mentor where one of the dragons belly-flopped her several dozen yards right in front of me. I walk towards the pair, AJ and AB staying where they are, and enter a slight depression in the ground where the dragon's torso touchdown. Celestia lay right in the center. Twilight is frantically scanning the larger white pony for any signs of life, her eyes wide with fear and leaking tears. When I reach them, Celestia's body, limbs splayed out in every odd direction, has several protrusions, which are, I figure, most likely her ribs, sticking out of her skin and fur all along her upper torso, a golden liquid that must've been her blood escaping through. Her eyes are closed, and she doesn't seem to be breathing. The crown she had worn is smashed to smithereens a little ways away from her head. The scent of honey rises in the air from the liquid, and it mixes with the remnants of sulfur and rusty blood.

"Your Majesty! Wake up! Please! Celestia!" Twilight screams. Tears make their way down her cheeks. Rainbow Dash comes up from behind her, trying to calm the distressed unicorn.

"Twilight, yelling isn't going to help. Calm down," She says, strangely in such a calm tone as if all the past atrocities didn't occur at all.

Twilight, visibly terrified from the possible death of her teacher, breaks down in the cyan mare's embrace, Rainbow stroking her dark-purple mane soothingly. I look at Celestia, and nothing happens for a while except the continued bleeding from her various ghastly injuries.

All of a sudden, an intense white light accompanied by the sound of rushing wind explodes out of the nowhere, blinding everyone around.

"Gah!" I hear Rainbow Dash grunt. I went to bring my arms up, but my wings automatically whip around my front and easily block the light in a criss-crossing "X" formation. That is a handy perk, I note. But even then, the thinner flesh is highlighted, and I can see the all the blood vessels flowing all across their span. Despite the situation, I can't help but marvel at these magnificent structures.

After about twenty seconds, the light dissipates, and my wings return to their neutral position. What I see astounds me, as Princess Celestia lays on the ground, uninjured, without so much as a scratch on her repaired white coat. The golden tiara returned to its rightful place just behind her magnificent horn. Not only that, but the fires that were raging across the rooftops of Ponyville vanish, saving what could be salvaged. Her head rests on her fore hooves, her purple eyes opening like a new-born baby's.

"P-Princess!" Twilight exclaims, hopping from a stupefied Rainbow Dash and throwing her forehooves around the princess' neck. "You're alive!"

Celestia takes a moment to register what just happened, then smiles and rubs her head against Twilight's. "My student... Thank goodness..."

"I... I-I thought that you... th-that you had..." Twilight's voice nearly breaks again as she continues to hold her mentor's neck lovingly.

"Shh, shh," Celestia coos, "fret not, my little pony. I'm still here."

"Welcome back to the land of the living," I casually say to the monarch.

Celestia chuckles, "Thank you--" She stops when she looks at me, surprise growing in her eyes. "... you would be?"

"It's me," I reply, as if the answer were so obvious. "Michael." This only surprises her more, her eyebrows disappearing into her ethereal mane. Twilight let's go of her hold, allowing Celestia to stand up, keeping her gaze on me. I notice our heights are now equivalent. After an uncomfortable silence, the monarch says,

"This is... new." She and the equally surprised Twilight scan over my body, taking in the new details and probably comparing it to the body they first saw me in.

I look down at myself also. "Yeah. You can say that again."

After a pregnant pause, Rainbow Dash asks, "Can all humans turn into dragons?" It takes several seconds for that question to register.

"Um, n-no. At least, not in our reality." I awkwardly scratch my forehead, not knowing what the hell else to say.

"Interesting. Tell me," Celestia says, glancing around to the ruins of Ponyville, "what caused the dragon horde to flee? And..." Her eyes darted back to me. "Why are you now a dragon?"

"Well..." I glanced down at my body, "I can't really answer that second question, so, your guess is as good as mine. As for why the dragons left---"

"Michael totally scared those things off, and saved Ponyville!" Rainbow Dash interrupts. "And Apple Bloom!" At the comment about Apple Bloom, the princess swivels her head around to the two sisters, who are now looking this way. Applejack has a look of relief and contentment on her face while Apple Bloom's eyes glimmered in gratitude towards me.

"He scared them--"

"Save it, I don't know how either. I just transformed into this," I gesture to my new body, "roared really loud, and away they flew." I say that with the straightest face I can manage.

"I see," Celestia continues. "Well then, Michael, I sincerely thank you for protecting one of my faithful subjects, and for saving this town." She bows her head. "I am in your debt."

I'm stupefied. She, a princess, was thanking me? At one point or another, I just decide to stop questioning some of the random occurrences in this world and go with whatever comes my way.

I clear my throat. "Um, y-your welcome."

"Twilight?!" Rarity's voice suddenly calls from across the field. "Darling, what's happening out there?"

All of our heads swing to the open doorway of the library.

"Stay inside, girls!" Twilight shouted back, but it was too late.

Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike had already made their way outside, and the looks on their faces once they see the nightmarish scene make it seem as though they're regretting coming out. All of their eyes are as wide as dinner plates, incomprehension and terror evident on their whole beings. The light-yellow pegasus faints instantly, again, but none of the ponies or drake bother to catch her.

"Wha--? How--? Wh--?" Is all that comes out of Pinkie, and her mane and tail deflate again.

"What in the name of... H-How in Equestria could...?!" The white unicorn is shaking where she stands, her gigantic, sapphire eyes sweeping across the carnage, taking in all of the burnt bodies, fallen buildings, and blood that saturated the majority of the soil.

Spike, for his part, remains motionless and ghostly quiet. He looks shell-shocked, frankly.

Celestia and I share another glance, then she announces,

"I believe it would be best for all of us to continue this conversation inside." Receiving no argument, we began our way to the library, but a deep, hollow moan made stopped us in our tracks. Turning around, laying motionless several yards away, was the dragon whose back was snapped by Celestia. It was breathing, that much I could tell, and its wings tried to flap, but only elicited more groans of pain from the handicapped beast.

"Everypony get back!" Called the princess. She extended her wings outward protectively, and the four ponies around us sought sanctum behind her. The monarch's glowering gaze was fixated on the dark beast. It didn't pay her any mind, clawing at the ground with a massive limb, like it was trying to crawl away. The spine was twisted awkwardly, I could tell, so that must've been why the tail or hind legs weren't moving at all. After a while, the dragon conceded, accepting its fate by giving one last exasperated heave of breath, its wings falling at its sides.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for the thing. Sure it nearly snatched away Apple Bloom, but, something was off about it. This dragon wasn't normal, at least not by Ouranos' book's description about dragons. Or maybe I haven't reached that chapter yet. Realizing what I was thinking about, I looked around for the crimson chronicle that I had when I first came outside, but when I moved just the slightest millimeter to go looking for it, a voice said,

"Help...me..."

"Who said that?" I looked around, but Celestia and the others were giving me odd looks.

"Ah-Ah didn't say nothin'," Apple Bloom stated.

"Me neither," followed Rainbow Dash.

"Nopony said anything, Michael," Twilight said.

"No, I definitely heard someone say--"

"Help me...please..."

"There it is again," I remarked, "someone keeps saying, 'Help me'." I looked at the ponies in front of me, but they all wore looks of confusion, though Celestia had one of skepticism. Then the dragon moaned louder than before, and while it moaned, I heard that voice pleaded once again,

"Help me...!"

Realization dawned on me, and my head slowly swiveled to the handicapped monster. The others followed my gaze, and surprise is what was worn on all of their features.

"Surely, you jest?" The solar pony remarked, giving me a look that redundantly said: Are you serious? Ignoring her, I made my way cautiously towards the fallen creature.

"Uh, Michael, Ah don't think that's such a good idea," Applejack called. But I continually approached the dragon. It didn't seem to notice me until I was about ten yards away, and even then, the look in its eye when it saw me didn't contain any anger or hunger or fear; or any interest for that matter. I came up right below the left eye, an the dragon's crimson-irised pupil watched me, transfixed now that I was this close. It was laying on its belly. The head itself was staggeringly high, probably about twenty, thirty feet total. Its nostrils vibrated with every labored exhale it made, and a low hum gurgled in the animal's long neck.

"Please...help me..." I realized that voice was in my head, but it wasn't one of my thoughts. That's when it came to me. This dragon, somehow, was communicating through my head. Was this another ability granted by this draconian body? In which case, I thought that was awesome, having the ability to communicate with dragons telepathically. But these thoughts went on in the bowels of my mind, and my main attention was focused on what I was supposed to do for this suffering beast. Thankfully, my body went automatic again, and this time, the red eye looming over me widened with apprehension. I managed to stop my hand, and glanced back at the dragons view. I wondered if it heard the massive roar I made, and saw how the rest of the dragons reacted.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," I assured, and it visibly seemed to understand what I said. I had no idea why I was trying to nurture a gigantic, black titan of a monster, but it felt right. Almost as if...I was supposed to. I looked back at the quintet of ponies, and they were gawking incredulously at what I was doing.

My right hand flattened against the dragon's left cheek, and I could feel the dragon's essence. Suddenly, a jolt shot through my arm and entered through the scaly face, making the both of us flinch. I tried to pull my hand away, but found that it felt like it was glued to the black surface. The dragon, for his part, breathed quicker, and I looked up and saw, in the dagger-shaped pupil, an orb of golden light expanding until it encompassed the entire eyeball. Light shone outward, and form where my hand made contact with the beast, the scales began to turn scarlet. The new color accelerated across the dragon's whole body, and several things happened at once. First, the dragon appeared to shrink, but only slightly so. Second, the deformed injury to its spine readjusted itself with a repulsive *snap, crackle, pop*. Third, my vision blurred until I saw nothing but black.

"I must thank you for bringing me back to sanity."

"What?"

"Now how did you get inside my mind?"

"I..I'm not..."

"Who are you, anyway?"

"I don't...what the hell is this place?"

"I just said it was my mind."

"Oh yeah. Am I talking to a dragon?"

"Yes. You didn't answer my question."

"What? Oh, right, um, my name is Michael."

"Mai-kal?"

"No, 'Michael'."

"That is what I just...wait..."

"What is it?"

"..."

"You still there?"

"...Ah, I see now..."

"See what?"

"I know what you are."

"What do you mean? I'm human."

"That body does not appear to be human, if you ask me. You look more like one of us."

"My body? Oh yeah, that's right, my body changed...Why is my memory so bad?"

"You will receive your answers soon enough, Rex."

"What did you just call me?"

"Time to go back. I am called Magmus, by the way."

"Magmus, huh? Alright then, let's go."

I staggered backward and fell on my tail, prompting a shot of lightning from the cramped and twisted muscles. The heels of my claws pressed against my eyes, my head pounded right behind the eyeballs, like something's yanking on the tendons that kept them in their sockets. I heard a shout from somewhere behind me, but it was instatntly cut off.

"Micha--!" I think it was Rainbow Dash's voice. I could feel the earth in front of me shake, and after taking a moment to recover from that bizarre method of communication, I opened them up to see the changed dragon in front of me.

From where I sat, this transformed, now red-and-gold-coated dragon, stood up at roughly just a few feet shorter than his darker counterpart. The majority of his scales were a rich scarlet, with only his chest, belly, and the front flesh of his wings coated with dark-yellow. Leading from he back of his head to about halfway down his neck and out of his elbows, an extensive set of salmon spines protruded. His wingspan stayed about the same. His eyes, instead of the mad crimson, were more of a soft gold, but where the whites should've been, a lighter shade of the majestic color stood out from the darker variation present in the irises. And those eyes were looking at me, then at the ponies behind me, then back to me. His gaze wasn't threatening or dangerous, but almost confused, even harmless. Any pain he must've been feeling from that nasty injury to his spine was apparently gone.

I heard wings flap, and the next thing I knew, Celestia had flown up to the dragon's face.

"I am Celestia, Regent of the Sun and Co-Ruler of Equestria," she told him matter-of-fact-ly.

"I know who you are, pony princess," the dragon responded, his voice ten-times deeper and ten-times as metallic as mine, "and for a ruler, you do not do a very good job of protecting your country. I am Magmus, and I did not appreciate you breaking my spine."

Ouch.

The four ponies that remained behind now galloped and halted on either side of me, along with Rarity and Pinkie Pie and Spike, apparently over their initial shock, and looked straight up at the confrontation. I didn't see Fluttershy; poor thing must've still been out cold. Celestia grew visibly irritated by the remark the dragon just passed. Taking a deep breath, she continued,

"May I ask why you and your fellow dragons have been terrorizing the ponies of this land, Magmus?" At this, the dragon didn't seem very sure to answer. But, he replied,

"Well, that is...complicated, to say the least." Celestia wasn't satisfied with that answer. He continued, "Very, well. You see, at first, what happened to me and the other dragons felt instinctual. As if we were supposed to transform into those dark, heartless abominations and destroy everything we saw. Our conscious minds shut off, and only the primal functions and necessities took over. Not only that, but all the minds of all the dragons currently alive in the world were linked, which is how I know that dragons in other parts of the globe were searching too. However, at the same time, we we searching for something. We do not know -- I do not know -- what exactly, but the dragons here in Equestria, as well as everywhere else in the world, searched every sign of civilization until we found what we were looking for. As I said before, we knew not consciously what was the object of our endeavors...until a day ago." The scarlet beast glanced at me, then back at Celestia. She noticed this, and her curiosity and suspicion grew, I could tell. "All of the dragons began to converge on this town, because he," a red claw was pointed at me, "appeared in this world." Everyone's eyes shot at me. I felt heat rise to my face. They're staring again...

"And not only that," Magmus continued, "but the dragons from across the globe are still heading straight for this town. Or, more specifically, they are headed for him."

My mind was racing a million miles-per-hour from what this guy just said. I brought those monstrosities here? That couldn't have been true...could it? Something slammed on the ground in front of me, bringing me back to earth. Celetsia was glaring at me.

"So, you are responsible for this atrocity!" She yelled with a tone that said her suspicions were confirmed.

My blood ran cold at her accusation. "What? Of course not! Why would I want to do any of this?!" I yelled back, gesturing to the surrounding atrocity the monarch was referring to. My wings flared involuntarily, and she seemed to take that as a sign of hostility, because her long, white horn sparked at the end, and she aimed it at my head.

"All of you, get out of the way!" She commanded to the ponies surrounding me. "I don't want to accidentally hit any of you."

Twilight looked horrified at her mentor's sudden change in demeanor. "Princess Celestia, you can't--!"

"Wait!" Bellowed Magmus, his giant claw slamming in-between Celestia and me, effectively preventing her from blasting my head off. The six ponies and drake flew backwards at the thunderous karate-chop at the ground. "You misunderstand. I did not mean that he purposely summoned the dragons here, only that his physical presence is enough to draw them."

"How do you know that?" I heard Rainbow Dash ask him. His golden eyes shifted to her.

"Well, I--wait..." His salmon brows furrowed. "I remember you."

"Huh?" Rainbow croaked. Magmus' head bent down over Celestia and me to get a better look at the light-blue pegasus. The ponies surrounding her backed off, offering him a better view and leaving her to his mercy. After a tense several seconds, his eyes glowed with a dawning memory.

"Ah, yes, now I remember. You are the pony who kicked me on the snout all those years ago, up on that mountain." He pointed to a far off spire that stabbed the sky, all the way on the horizon to the west. Rainbow Dash, along with the rest of us, turned to where he was directing, and Dash responded,

"Oh-Oh yeah! Yeah, you were the dragon that was sending clouds of smoke all across Equestria with your snoring." The same looks of realization sprouted on the rest of the ponies faces. "How've ya' been?" She asked awkwardly. "The nose feelin' better?"

Magmus rose his head back up, chuckling deeply. "Hehehe...yes, but it did not hurt that much, to be truthful."

"Oh really? Then why did you throw a temper tantrum when I did?"

At this, the scarlet dragon made a look of indignity. "I did not throw a temper tantrum! I was simply annoyed that you meddling ponies would not allow me to hibernate for the next decade, or so." Rainbow snickered playfully, like she and this dragon were old friends.

These guys know each other? I thought. What are the odds that Celestia broke this dragon's spine out of every dragon that was tearing up this place?

"Excuse me," interrupted Twilight, dusting herself off, "but you neglected to answer Rainbow Dash's question."

Magmus sighed, "Ah, yes, of course. To answer your question, pegasus, there are, more or less, two parts. One, I was under that very influence while I was trapped in that monstrous state. Secondly, I was told."

"By whom?" Inquired Celestia, seemingly forgetting she was about to kill me.

"By me." That voice. Again. Great. He's back. "Did anyone miss me?"

Our eyes turned to my feet, and a malevolent pair of red eyes accompanied by a matching grin of shark-teeth were beaming at me. My shadow detached from my being and slithered about ten feet away before shooting upwards in a fountain of black light that stood in the center of all of us. I couldn't see him forming, but I knew that he was materializing. When thirty seconds went by, the fountain disappeared. All that remained was another darker parody of my body, this time in dragon form. Everything that was white was now black, the golden spines now, ironically, white, but the eyes were exactly the same. And since this guy was almost a perfect clone of me, I studied my new head on him.

Where my human nose was, a snout protruded about six inches, large nostrils angled slightly outward. The jawline was adjusted to merge almost seamlessly into this new snout, so the lower-jaw was like a separate joint. The ears were replaced by another set of wide spines, though I still managed to hear no differently than any human. But probably the most significant distinction visibly present was the pair of backward-arching horns that extended just above the forehead. I estimated they were about a foot long each. He was -- I was -- for lack of a better word, intimidating. My doppelgänger was grinning madly at me, those hypnotic eyes seizing their hold on me once more, then darted to the ponies around, prompting a frightened reaction from them all.

"I'll take that as a 'Yes'." He snickered.

"What do you want now?" I asked, somewhat in angst.

The clone looked back at me with an expression of mock-hurt. "Why the hostility, Michael? What did I ever do to you?" I raised an eyebrow. His fake expression collapsed into a more suiting cruel-pleasure. "Oh yeah, I made you remember." He then started to laugh. Needless to say, I did not like this guy.

"I recognize your voice, creature," Magmus stated. "It was present when our minds melded. Who are you?"

My shadow clone payed him no heed. Instead, he was examining his new body, rotating shoulders, flexing and extending wings, swinging his tail back and forth.

"Ahem." The clone looked up, then he made an irritated grimace.

"Answer the question," added Celestia, "who are you? Do you even have a name?"

"I've already told you who -- and what -- I am," The dark me answered exasperatedly. "And no, I don't have a name, per se. I was really never given one. And don't ask 'Never given one by whom?'. You'll meet him soon enough, anyway." He found interest in his claws. "Actually, a few of you will be meeting him later today. Including you, Celestia." He glanced at her, then at Magmus. "As for you, big guy, I was the one to clarify a few things to you while your mind and Michael's were merged."

"Who will we be meeting?" The white alicorn pressed.

My clone grinned madly at the monarch again. "Spoilers. Can't tell you."

The clone took a deep breath of air. "Well! It's been fun, everyone, but, since Michael here has finally given me wings, I no longer have to stay here with you. When you have the time, be sure to make your way to Canterlot. Later!" And with that, the shadow doppelgänger of me blasted up into the air several hundred feet, causing a slight shockwave back on the ground that knocked some of us back on our asses, then shot off northwest towards a cluster of mountains. The rest of us were gawking at his incredible speed. If Celestia was fast, then this shadow clone could've left her in the dust without breaking a sweat.

"Where is he going?" Magmus asked to no one.

Celestia answered, "To Canterlot."