Crystal POV

I watched as Savage twitched like she was being shocked. Not for long. One, maybe two, seconds and it was over. Still, it made her jump back from the Bewitching Bell and breath heavily.

I, Zitrus and Blueberry rushed towards her. Her fur, mane and tail looked very tousled.

“Are you alright, Savage?”, I asked, as soon as we reached her side.

Savage shook her head to clean her mind. I felt a bit of fear in her. But also relief that it was over.

“Yes… I think so”, Savage answered.

She gave her wings some careful flaps. Not enough to take off. Just enough to make sure she could at least still move them. Then she lit up her horn.

“Huh? I… uuuh… Why am I able to light up my horn? Didn't the bell take all of my magic?”, asked our purple alicorn.

She tried to lift up a rock, lying not too far away from us. And indeed, the rock was surrounded by a purple aura and then lifted off the ground. Confused she looked at Mindcontrol, but it was Zitrus who spoke.

“You never lost your magic, Savage. You did not even touch the bell. You only placed your hoof on a shield that Crystal cast shortly before you touched it.”

But did not make Savage less perplexed. She dropped the stone and again gave her wings some flaps. This time they were stronger, and her hooves left the ground for a short time.

“But why?”

“Because we, or better I, never intended for you to lose your magic”, Zitrus explained. “But I wanted to take sure that you would be willing to make the step.”

I could sense how Savage grew a bit angry at that.

“So this was all just some stupid test? To see how far I would go for our herd? Our love was actually never on the line?”, she asked with raised voice.

“It was way more than just a test”, Zitrus said and placed one front hoof on Savage’s chest. “There still is a second Savage in you. And I was unsure who you really are. Who the real Savage is. So no, I did not plan this right in the beginning. I was unsure about you, and when you told me about this Bewitching Bell, I saw a chance for you to prove it to me.”

He looked her straight in the eyes.

“Now I know, who you want to be. You want to be the Savage we love. You were willing to give up your power, the one that the old Savage was feeding on, to be with us. You might still hold that part in you, but you have shown that it is not the one you want to be.”

“And you all knew about this?”, Savage wanted to know and looked at me and Blueberry.

“Zitrus had quickly told me about the plan. And I agreed. You didn't have to lose your magic for me to forgive you, but I wanted to see you trying at least”, Blueberry agreed.

“I was also enlightened, but I promised to not tell you. I disliked the idea of putting you through such an extreme test, but I saw that this was the way to keep these two wings together”, I explained with an ashamed smirk.

Savage looked away. Thanks to my mind reading abilities, I could still detect anger in her. She felt, tricked, backstabbed and tormented by the ponies she loved. And all of that had gone on for multiple days. But there was also relief that she could keep her alicorn magic and understanding towards us. She might not have liked our action, but she swallowed her anger.

“But what about the other personality now? My other Savage is still in my and could take control if I find myself again in a triggering situation”, she threw in.

Zitrus gave a nod and returned: “We know but getting rid of your powers is not the way. Not like this. We all know how much you enjoy flying or have the ability to cast spells. You would have mourned after in a way we would have hated to see. To see you hurt just so you could prove your love.

So, what I'm trying to say is, we love you. The real you. And we will find another way to suppress the urges in you. Together.”

Savage' anger faded a bit and was replaced by some delight. But she still was just sitting there. Avoiding eye contact. So, I did the most reasonable thing and hugged her. Blueberry and Zitrus joined in a moment later. And this finally broke the barrier and Savage hugged us back with her large alicorn wings.

“But one question remains”, Savage realised. “Why did I get a shock after I touched Crystal’s shield when it was not the bell?”

“That was me. I cast an electrical spell on you”, Blueberry admitted without any sound of regret.

“But why?”

“As punishment”, Blueberry simply replied.

With a last hug I wished goodbye to Mindcontrol. Not only did we plan to leave but Mindcontrol herself was being replaced by another alicorn. Guarding a bell in a empty cave was not an interesting task and you had to replace the guard every now and then.

Mille Feuille, a silly, bouncy and very joyful purple alicorn had arrived not long ago. She was right now bouncing in place, ready to pick up duty.

“And stay safe, my dear Hope”, Mindcontrol said as she took off in the air.

“Will do, and you hopefully too”, I laughed.

Behind me, Savage and Zitrus were studying the map to plan our next journey.

“And where do we go next? There is no actual task we have to achieve or anything like such”, Savage mentioned.

“Well there is one place I would like to vi-“

“Oh! Oh! I have something for you!”

Zitrus didn't get far as suddenly, a very bouncy purple Mille stood in front of him. Savage and Zitrus looked a bit confused at her.

“Well, it Is not from me, more from Velvet Remedy but you get the point”, Mille Feuille also added. “I myself do not know much about it. I just know that miss Remedy is looking for an earth pony to solve a problem. A problem that should be over there.”

Mille pointed with her hoof on the map that Zitrus was holding out. When she realised, a hoof was not very accurate for pointing at something, she lowered her head and pointed with her horn at it instead.

I also trotted over and looked at the place, Mille was pointing at. A spot, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, next to a river.

“And what should be there?”, Zitrus asked unsure.

“As far as I know it should be an old prewar factory, made by the zebras”, Mille explained and added a spooky undertone.

“They built it because they were creating some sort of toxin there to poison the water. But they were never able to fulfil the plan. But the factory still stands, along with all the content. The building is already over 200 years old, and it seemed that it could fall apart pretty soon. And I do mean pretty soon. Like within the next few days.

And if that happens, the poison could run out and get into the water where it contaminates everything. That is why miss Remedy wants to fully destroy the facility.”

“I see. But why does she need an earth pony for that?”, Zitrus wanted to know.

“Because we cannot just destroy the building from the outside. The risk that the liquid venom would run out is way too high. So, we have to do it safely from inside. But that's the problem!”, Mille pointed out and booped Zitrus on the snoot. “The facility was made by zebras, for zebras. They've got a security system in it. Something that detects ponies and eliminates them. And we are unsure if it is still intact.”

“Then how should Zitrus be able to help?”

I nearly jumped when I suddenly heard Blueberry’s voice next to me.
"Because the system is not perfect”, Mille explained. “It only scans the outlines of a creature. Checking if the creature has a horn or wings. And since earth ponies don't have either, and look not too different from zebras, they are able to get inside.”

“How sure is that?”, Zitrus asked concerned

“Pretty sure. The only reason we discovered that place was because two unicorns and an earth pony entered that place and only the earth pony survived, while his two companions died in a cruel way. So, no need to worry, my little pony”, Mille Feuille answered and patted Zitrus' head.

“Well, I doubt that this security system has enough power to stop alicorns. We can teleport, turn invisible and cast powerful protection shields”, Savage threw in with confidence.

“I am sorry to disappoint you, sister, but this one might have enough power. The zebras from long ago made sure that this place couldn't be blocked or dodged by magic. They built this during wartime against the ponies after all. They had to make sure that no squad of unicorns, or even the old princesses themselves, could trick out their system”, Mille said. “I mean, you can certainly try. Maybe the security system has lost enough power over 200 years that it won't be a threat. But this place might be safer to enter as an earth pony than as an alicorn.”

We all looked at Zitrus and waited for his decision.

“I mean… we don’t have anything else big to do so we could at least check it out. We don’t agree to anything, but we can at least give a look”, he said.

I could sense that blueberry disliked the idea a lotbut our next destination was set for now.

“Can I ask you a question, Mille?”, I turned myself to the purple alicorn.

“You just did, silly”, she said with a slight laugh.

I rolled my eyes but had to smile too.

“How far is Velvet with the project to make alicorns have foals?”, I just asked straight away.

“Oh, pretty far. I don’t know how far exactly but I would say, only some days, maybe weeks away from the big breakthrough. Why, would you like to visit her? Because then you are in luck. She is not too far away at the moment. She should be somewhere around here”, the purple alicorn answered and again used her horn to point at a location on the map, not far away from ours.

Only some days?!, shot through my mind.

Excited, I turned my head to the rest of my herd. But to my surprise, their excitement was kept in line. But I did not care.

“We have to take a detour by Velvet! This could finally be my chance”, I told them eagerly.

“Are you sure?”, Zitrus questioned. "What happens if it's like last time when you saw your plan to have foals so close?”

He was speaking about the zebra camp. The place where I had hoped to get a potion for pregnancy. But they had had nothing that would have helped me. Another, painful memory, that was now stuck in my head…

“But that one is different. Mille literally just told us about it. Meaning it must be true. This one must work”, I said and pushed the memories back.

But Zitrus, Savage and even Blueberry looked sceptical. Zitrus and Savage share a look and I knew there was some quiet conversation going on between the two. Something that they didn't want me taking part in. I was not even able to read it out of their minds!

“But the place where Velvet Remedy is… this is kind of in the opposite direction from the factory”, Savage concerned.
But I was able to tell that this was just some hidden excuse for something else. Why was every pony in the group against it?!

“And? How far away is that? Two days walking maybe. But if you see this old, demolished building as more important, then I can go by myself if you prefer. Then I can fly and will most likely not take longer than one day”, I threw in.

Zitrus gave a heavy sight before answering: “Alright, I doubt there would be anything to convince you otherwise. I will tell us the route I, Savage, and Blueberry will walk, along with a stop we will make in between. So, you can catch up to us on your way back. And if we would miss each other, our final meeting point would be the facility.”

I gave a nod to that. Sure, I disliked splitting up our herd so soon after resolving an argument. But this opportunity was too big for me to wait a few days. This was too important to me. I just didn't know why the others were so concerned about it...

Author's Note

Happy New Year
I hope you all had a great 2023 and now will have a even greater 2024

About the chapter, guess Savage did not lose her magic, but there is now a new secret going on about... Hope.