Deep below the City of Canterlot, inside of an old and abandoned crystal mine, A figure can be found banging on a large green crystal.

One of his hooves took the shape of a chisel whilst the other took the appearance of a hammer.

And as the teal-eyed figure kept hammering and chiseling into the crystal, cutting chunks of it out, he kept thinking about something that happened to him earlier that day.

Of a red-haired Unicorn who had the gall to ask him out on a romantic outing.
Who does she think she is?
Looper was sure he made it obvious he had no desire to speak with her, why should he waste his precious time with the foolish denizens of this land?

They were all so Pitiful and Pathetic, they had Magic at their proverbial fingertips and yet haven't invented cars or planes. Their engines still run on steam, their roofs are built of thatch, and most of their land is uninhabited and unexplored.
They have so much potential and yet they squander it all on nothing.

Magic is a miracle, it can solve so many problems in the world, it can cure disease and grow crops, it can change the weather and create electricity.
And they use it to brew coffee and cut ribbons.

It's all just so pathetic.

Even the Buffalo, who he has only spent a week with, who had no Magic, were less pitiful than these fur-covered four-legged horn-headed winged creatures of magic.

It just made no sense to him.
A single discussion, barely one at that, shorter than five minutes.
And she thinks she can just 'Ask him out'?

He couldn't handle it.
The Sheer audacity she exuded, the thought that these ponies who had the power to change reality to their whims yet waste it on feeding birds, would ask HIM out.

BANG

Looper was brought out of his thoughts when the crystal he was hammering finally shattered, revealing the bright green gems hidden underneath the layers of dust.

With a quick transformation, Looper's hooves changed from the hammer and chisel back to their original shape, only with a large empty hole the size of a big wallet on his skin.

Picking up the gems, Looper placed them inside of the holes on his legs, and once they were full, he covered them with a layer of skin and carapace.

A makeshift bag utilizing the holes found in Changeling's legs.

Taking the rest of the gems that he couldn't collect, he laid them in a pile for later collection.

Ignoring the rattling of gemstones in his legs, He buzzed his wings and flew out of the cave.

Gems are expensive, any good Jeweler could tell you that.
But the trinkets made by those gems are five times as expensive, so it ends up being worth it for the jeweler to buy the gems he appraises.

And that is why a mysterious Unicorn exited a cheap Jeweler a few thousand bits richer than he entered.

And once said Unicorn was out of sight, he engulfed himself in green flames, and walked back into the streets as an Insect-Looking pony.

And as if nothing weird has happened, Looper swiftly went and bought himself a room at a cheap hotel, where he could sleep until the citizenship process is fulfilled.

And now with a bed for the foreseeable future, The changeling lied down and closed his eyes.

Moon Dancer wasn't sure if she made the right decision.
A single talk was all she had with the bug-pony, and she asked him out a day later!

"I can't do this," She mumbled to herself as she walked circles into her carpet, her mug of coffee earlier in the day sat cold on the table as she was too lost in thought to drink it.

"I'm not ready, He's not into me," She told herself, doubts about her choices crawling into her mind.

"I- I need to call it off, I can't do this." Moon Dancer said with finality, Intent on visiting the bug-pony and telling him that she won't go on a date with him.

"Wait! I don't know where he lives... Oh this is bad, this is so so bad." Moon Dancer walked into her bedroom and crawled under the sheets.

"This is really really so so bad."

Magic, of the pony variety, has a large emphasis on Intent, and words.
Words Have power.
And the less is known about those words, the more 'Mysterious' They are, and the more power a spell has.

However, it was written by Crumpet the Bellyful, Minister of Agriculture during the early years of the Equestrian Solar Calendar, soon after the banishment of the Alicorn known as "Nightmare Moon", That the belief of the many for the purpose of a spell will take the 'Mystery' of said spell and change it to suit the public belief, therefore the fewer people know about a spell the more precise and powerful it is, depending on the caster and the belief of its purpose, of course.

Using these teachings of 'Mystery' and 'Belief' I have started to experiment with the usage of old languages and mystical symbols of my old world.

A major inspiration was The Lesser Key of Solomon and the Demons of the Ars Goetia, Which in turn bring up the ideas of Sephiroth and Qliphoth from Kabbalah and other similar religious mysticism.

If all my theories are correct, The Lycanthropes in the southern desert will be more than a simple source of 'Love' and theory-crafting.

Theoretically, should they believe that symbols I inscribe on their flesh would bring them powers, then that belief will power the 'Mystery' and make it so.

There are just so many things to do and so little time to experiment on.
Once my citizenship is in place and my stay here is legalized, I will return to the desert and start my research properly.

It simply is just so very interesting.

More research will be required to prove these theories.

Author's Note

More of an in-between chapter.

In a few chapters, the deep delving of the mystic arcane shall begin in earnest.
A cult doesn't simply build itself, after all.