Author's Note

I wrote this cause I thought the ending of the second game was lackluster in its reveal of the root cause of the magical anomalies. My mind went from there. The wonders of slight disappointment in source material strikes yet again.

It's Not Really Work, It's Just The Power To Charm

"You okay Misty?" Zipp popped in front of the blue unicorn's face as she spoke. "You've been kind of distant on the train ride here and I didn't want to push you or anything but it's not often I invite ponies to Zephyr Heights, that's usually Pipp's deal. You have no idea how long the phone call I had with mom about inviting. . .how did she put it? 'One of your little buddies?' and then she started lecturing me about drug laws and the like in town"

Misty smiled as she felt the roiling emotions around her. She wasn't one for crowds and while she had done reconnaissance missions to sabotage Unity Magic for Opaline in the hope that the maroon alicorn would treat her better, it hadn't been a fun time. She had to wade through an unfamiliar city without a map and all the blinding colors.

She breathed out as she remembered that most ponies only saw the colors of a ponies' coat, their manes and their accessories, maybe a piece of actual fashion. Most ponies were not like her or Izzy- the purple unicorn called it the ability to see luminescences and glows and what Misty called it was a one way trip to seeing the range of pony emotions. The emotions surrounding them like coronas or halos as they moved, the colors of emotions shifting as they talked and all she could do was watch them and see their inner turmoil like a nervous observer.

She had Zipp's voice blabbing away as she scanned the books. It had been her joke of an idea to go back to the Heights and scan the ancient tomes. Partially at least. She had mentioned in passing while playing twenty questions that she could read ancient texts like it was a second, third, or fourth language. It hadn't been Opaline's idea to train her in the ancient tongues but when an ancient and terrible alicorn had to placate a young and interested foal. . .well Opaline had gotten creative. The alicorn had first tried horrible punishments and fear tactics but after deciding crying was in her words "obnoxious and annoying enough to distract from the mission to take all the magic for herself" the ancient alicorn had allowed her to wander the halls and pick out dusty tomes held together by unknown means and read them. Misty had learned how to read from ancient Equestrian romances, Kirin myths and legends, and bits and pieces of Draconic writing that Opaline had poured over like a mare possessed.

Misty had let that little factoid slip and Zipp had lit up.

Zipp hadn't stopped asking her questions on the short train ride here and her emotional bleed through was almost infectious, the pegasus trailing yellows and blues as she swept through the library looking for books for the pair of them to read. Misty would have found that cute and nice.

Except there was a color she had rarely seen in Zipp's fiery corona- a pinkish hue that she had never seen before on the Pegasus. Opaline had been reds and blues and purples. Anger, sadness and, at times, fear as she talked about the past- the emotions covering the alicorn like armor. Opaline had never shown a pink color at all. The only time she had seen a pink cloud around a pony were Sunny and Izzy. . .Pipp and Hitch. . .Misty froze for a moment as she had placed the unknown emotion into a hypothetical location in her brain.

Zipp was feeling love.

"Hey, Misty, I found some ancient Equestrian books. . .and whatever these are. . . and these. . ." Zipp huffed as she balanced a stack of books two feet tall and placed the tomes on the large central table. "Remind me to send in a call for more librarians in the Royal Archives- the upper stacks are a complete and utter mess. Though with nopony being able to fly for who knows how long it makes some sense. Now what to read first. Moon o' Gay Terry- can’t be saying that right. I mean I think that's what the letters say, its hard to read such faded letters." She huffed out in slight annoyance. Uh, this one too."

Misty pushed her emotions down as she masked her thoughts. Zipp had invited her out here. Alone. To enjoy the moment and talk. Misty nearly bit her tongue. "Uh, that's. . .Story of the Peach Blossom, you were slightly wrong since Kirin letters aren't exactly like pony ones. . .and that one is Romance of the Pegasi Queendoms and this one is. . . " Misty began translating what to Zipp seemed like ancient runes of magic as she called back to Opaline's draconian teaching methods. She monotonously read off book after book as Zipp watched her, her head in her hooves as Misty unlocked the potential all these untranslated books had held for unknown ages.

Zipp was in love with her, hypothetically, and she didn't know how to handle that fact. Opaline had told her for years that she was unable to be loved, only tolerated and as Misty paced around the table, she heard the echoes of Opaline's faded laughter in her mind. There was no world that would let her be loved. She already held her friends in such joyous esteem that ruining it with emotions such as love would destroy that.

"And that's The Tantabus." Misty pointed at the final large folio and sighed. "I hope you know from which shelves you pulled all these from."

Zipp waved a hoof. "I pulled them primarily from the more Royal Archives sections- I doubt most of these have seen the sun in like two centuries. At least. Most Pegasi can’t read ancient languages so the symbols were probably copied again and again because these stories were antiques or priceless artifacts to them. At least that’s how it is in the Chevalia cycle of books and that’s what I’d do. In short, I don't think they'd mind getting let out and see the sights of the town. Or a few parts of the castle. What else do they have to look forward to?”

Misty groaned. "I don't think we're going to have time reading like ten books. The Queen. . .er, your mom. . .might not like having guests over for weeks on end."

Zipp rolled her eyes, the oranges of annoyance getting added to her emotional aura. "You have no idea how much my mom would love hosting you for months on end. She'd probably wine and dine you for free just so she could ask over and over how Pipp and I are doing, how much fun having friends is, the whole thing about your past actions. Seriously, she loves a captive audience to talk to for hours."

Misty gulped at the thought of all the new and wonderful foods she could try in that case and shoved that down as fast as possible. She had a terrible love of food built by years of want and deprivation. Opaline had trained her well in following orders in the only way she could feasibly understand. If she did well in harming Unity Magic, she got to eat more than one daily meal. If not, well, it usually was enforced bedtimes and taking away meals to highlight the alicorn's displeasure with her ward.

She had an ingrained issue with food and Equestria's abundance compared to Opaline's castle made her mind boggle. She would probably make a fool of herself if given the chance of unlimited buffet access. Or room service.

Misty breathed out and tried to focus on her task even as a portion of her imagined the feasts that the Queen would hold made her distracted. She already had a problem with snacking- the wonders of sweets and popcorn had her in a mental chokehold. "I would be honored, but I don't think that'd be for the best."

Zipp shrugged. "My mom would still broach the offer. Okay, so let's just choose two books then. I'll choose this one." Zipp's hoof pointed above the old Equestrian romance novel. "I mean I own all the Chronicles of Chevalia, its spinoffs, the reference materials, and some fanworks I printed off and bound- even though that might be in a weird gray area legally speaking. A book like that. . .what does this say again?" She tried to read the runic letters and sighed.

"Romance of the Pegasi Queendoms."

"Yeah, that sounds like something that would be in my fantasy novels. I'd think Summer Hill and the other characters in Chevalia would fit right in to whatever this has. And hey, I chose one. You should choose a book as well. I mean nopony else here can read it. Seriously Kirin and Draconic? Next thing you’d say is that seaponies have their own language. Do they?” Zipp shook her head. “But yeah Draconic. I can count the number of dragons we know on like our hooves combined. And I don't think they'd fit all too well in here." Zipp glanced up at the ceiling of the library, the vaulted ceilings of the golden palace stretching above the pair. "Not that they wouldn’t fit. I just think the average pony would think it'd be a dragon invasion. Remember how Sprout jumped in the Bay the moment Spike and the others appeared? Hilarious." Zipp chuckled.

Misty smiled as she saw the yellow hue of joy surround the pegasus and flood the room in her eyes with light, the emotion acting like a mini sun that lit up the stained glass and made the library around them look like a kaleidoscope of shifting colors. She blinked and the emotion dimmed as the world shifted back into focus. She felt the euphoric high of Zipp's joy dissipate from her surroundings and she felt grounded again, her emotions her own and her inner thoughts all hers.

Sometimes the ability to feel the emotions of others felt like a curse as she had so many emotions to juggle. Or the emotional hills and valleys bled over into her own feelings and she’d be dealing with a pony’s rage, sadness, or fear and trying to act normal in the midst of a major episode felt like juggling plates. At least Izzy wasn't here. Misty loved hanging out with the bouncy unicorn, but her emotions felt like a carnival ride or a rollercoaster, ups and downs and topsy turvy hairpin turns from joy to sadness to even hints of anger and guilt that Izzy kept hidden behind an outward mask of glee.

Zipp was confusing, especially with the pink sunset of love that surrounded her. Izzy was a whole storm of emotions that was exhausting.

"Equestria to Misty."

Misty blinked as she noticed Zipp's hooves waving in front of her face. "What?"

Zipp looked at Misty and tendrils of purple surrounded her as she spoke to Misty. Fear. An emotion Misty knew the look of far too well. "You just spaced out for like ten minutes. I was worried something happened. I was even talking to you and you were just looking outside with a blank expression. You sure you slept well?"

Misty nervously laughed. "Sorry, I was just trying to think of what I wanted to pick." That was a lie. She had been so lost in thought that she had lost track of time. "And I took a nap on the train. I'll pick this one." Misty ran her hooves over The Tantabus, the soft binding of the book inlaid with a few small emeralds with a silver latch making the otherwise plain tome stand out in her mind. It was very pretty to her since most of Opaline's books had been journals or things closer to ancient tablets than actual bound books. This felt important.

Zipp whistled. "That's a decent choice."

***

“And then I asked Alphie about what food he wanted for our date and he gave that choice to me.” Queen Haven swooned in her large ornate gold throne as she rambled on and on. Misty smiled ever so briefly as she saw the pink hue wrap around the older mare’s crown like a ball of light, flecks of yellow in a purple haze as she talked more and more.

She reminded Misty of Pipp and her flights of fancy, the rambling sound of her voice filling the large hall, faint echoes bouncing off the distant ceiling.

She turned her eyes to Zipp and she saw the dueling emotional fronts fight for space, Zipp’s side dominated by reds and oranges. Zipp was fuming and either she was good at hiding her inner thoughts or the royals just talked in circles around a major problem.

“That’s wonderful, mom. I could have got that in an email or something. You know you don’t have to tell me every play by play of your love life in a meeting.”

“Yes, well, you know how your sister gets about gossip. And she took the news of my new dating partner rather. . .badly. I’m still trying to get traces of that livechat thing off the web. It was supposed to be a more private matter- not phoned to the whole world. You just seem so much more level headed in this. Aloof even.” Haven nervously tapped her hooves together and Misty didn’t need to see emotions to feel the waves of confusion and sadness radiating out from the older mare.

“I try.”

Haven nodded and turned to Misty and smiled. “So this is one of your new friends, is it? It’s not the stallion. At least I hope not? I thought he was orange. And unicorn? Is it Izzy?”

Misty courteously bowed, a decade of deferring to quasi-royalty ingrained in her a quick and simple response to power. “It’s Misty, Your Majesty.”

Haven truly smiled this time, the barest hint of mirth radiating yellow as she spoke. “I’m sorry. I thought Alphie had mentioned all the unicorns in Equestria. I guess he missed a couple. Understandable since he’s not infallible. Charmed. I’m surprised you bowed. . .the others hadn’t.”

Zipp waved a hood. “Misty is something like a special case. And I apologized already about Izzy, how should I have known she would try and do an impromptu magic show.”

Haven chuckled. “It was memorable. Hence why I can remember her name.” She eyed up the blue unicorn and shrugged. “It’s been a while since you brought one of your special friends on a trip like this.”

Zipp’s aura changed to purple. Misty could feel the heat come off Zipp’s cheeks as she was filled with the bleeding emotion, butterflies bouncing in her stomach as she breathed in and out, the shrill whistle of fear and guilt blurring her senses.

“It’s not like that. Misty’s a bit of a scholar and I offered to show her the library. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Haven hid a knowing smile as she looked out the stained glass window. “My apologies, I just assumed that was the case. You know what the youth say about assumptions.” She turned to Misty and clapped her hooves. “Well, no matter, I’m inviting you to dinner tomorrow.”

“Mom, you don’t have to do this.”

Haven waved a hoof. “Of course I don’t, but either it would be me eating alone and all that- a prospect of eating a fancy dinner by myself and I’ve done so many of those. . .or riveting conversation with new ponies.”

“Misty hate’s conversation”

Haven eyed Misty with a focused look and it felt like a spotlight shone down and drowned her own thoughts out- a sea of calm surrounded her as she tried to figure out what to say.

“Seems like she’s perfectly capable of speech, dear. I know the type- so focused on the how of speech and not the act of it. You can say so much with a quick remark.” Haven let the silence rain for a moment. “It’s refreshing to have silence when being queen- you have no idea how stressful court can be, Misty.”

Misty stammered out a reply, her consummate politeness trumping her nerves. “I’d love to but I don't know our schedule. I mean Zipp wanted me to translate some ancient books. Then maybe see a show or go to a club.”

Misty wanted to stuff her hooves in her mouth as she watched Haven light up like a fireworks display. She wished she could stoke back her words as she felt Zipp’s anger surround her.

“Now I need to pick your brain. You know how many ponies nowadays know alternate languages? It’s not zero, but it’s damn close.”

***

“I told you to keep your head low.” Zipp paced the balcony of the throne room, glancing down in the now empty hall, her whisper tones telling Misty enough to stay quiet. The radiating waves of red light and heat wrapping her in constricting rage, the unicorn’s chest tightening as Zipp’s personal anger blended into the guilt she naturally felt.

“I just wanted to be nice. That’s all.”

Zipp groaned. “Of course you did. But I didn’t want to have a personal dinner with her- you have no idea how stifling her influence can be. The last time I showed a pony around, she thought I was smitten and I almost got roped into marrying the drummer of Electric Blue. Pipp asked me to show her around the castle and mom got all excited about me being gay.”

Misty cocked her head. “Are you?”

Zipp blushed crimson. “Yeah, but that’s not the point. I spoke once to a mare and my mom wanted to plan my wedding and she was this close to trying to figure out how two mares could have a foal. This was before magic came back so she pulled out files about test tube foals. Arpeggia still doesn’t let me live it down in DMs, joking about our freak mutant foals. It’s horrible.” Zipp sighed and took a swill of a small bottle of vodka she pulled out from under her wing.

Misty shrugged. She couldn’t understand Zipp’s dilemma- to her a parental figure who seemed to care about her sounded positively heavenly. “I doubt she said that. She tries. At least that counts for something.”

Zipp blinked and Misty could feel a wave of guilt wash over her. “She didn’t but that’s what it felt like. I’m going to be the next queen candidate and it feels like my mom wants to micromanage every bit of my life at times.” She breathed out, tendrils of blues and purples constricted around Misty’s throat as she felt the hidden pain behind Zipp’s bravado and confidence. “Sorry, Misty, I bet this sounds a bit silly.”

Misty shook her head and ran a hoof quickly over her throat to check. “Not silly. Just different. I mean the nicest thing Opaline did for me was. . .feign love and dangle a cutie mark over my head if I did what she wanted.” She wistfully stared over at the fluffy cloud path that separated the royal balcony from the rest of this upper section and briefly wondered what clouds felt on her hooves “I’d have done anything for Opaline if she had shown an iota of affection like that. Ask me how my day was, the things I hoped to do, all that stuff.”

Zipp laid a hood on Misty’s shoulder.

“But that’s the past.” Misty breathed and sat down. “Anyway, sorry for being a downer, I would love to hear all the funny stories about your mom trying to ‘help you get a date’.

“I doubt it. It boils down to my mom having a little casting call on suitors and after the tenth mare talking about their sex life and how I was actually the best princess, it got old. Then there was the presents of sex toys on my birthday- the discreet packages just showing up on my bed over and over.”

“No, that sounds horrible.”

Zipp laughed the fainted hint of joy flashing in Misty’s view as she reminisced about the past. “I never could figure out who actually went into the sex shop and bought the damn things. . .for sure it wasn’t my mom cause she wouldn’t be caught dead in a store like that. Not that she doesn’t get laid, she just doesn’t want the royal family to look bad. And that’s before she tried to hook me up with a stallion. She was this close to giving me dossiers on their anatomy.”

“Ew. TMI, Zipp.”

Zipp shrugged. “Not my problem, you asked. I’m just annoyed I have to figure out what to do tomorrow with you now.”

Misty felt waves of love surround her and she shrugged. “Whatever. Could be as simple as going to the park or the, uh, Theater District? I did make up the future plans to get out of dinner. But we could totally see a show.” She tried to wrack her brain for the basic districts of the Heights. “Really anything.”

Zipp took another quick swig of vodka. “Good. I doubt it’d be anything too special. Last minute reservations for stuff are such a bitch to get. Though I could probably pull a few strings and see what’s available. I may not be as much a draw as Pipp, but I do have friends in lower places.”

“Oh, uh, that’s up to you. Surprise me.”

Misty walked into the guest room of the palace and felt woefully ill in here, the gold and mahogany alone made it feel so wasteful. She was used to threadbare things and the bed sheet in here was so luxurious that she could hardly comprehend how much it cost.

She pulled out the small book she had taken from the library and carefully placed it on the desk. It’s austere finery looking cheap in a room full of priceless things.

She opened the clasp and opened the fist page, ready to translate the words into common Equestrian as a soothing practice of dead languages.

It was easier to focus on that- the confirmation that the sense of love that Zipp felt wasn’t just a fluke or a false positive- her ability to read others emotions could get foggy in large cities such as Zephyr Heights and so she had poked her more than once with ‘accidental’ probing questions.

And with how most emotions were fickle things that changed like the weather. . .how most stayed near the pony that was feeling the inner turmoil. . .how she had never found a pony like her before that had her secret power- how they had been so alone nearly all day.

Zipp was actually in some sort of love with her and it boggled her mind. She wasn’t attractive at all, not like the sleek athleticism that oozed through Zipp’s natural movements. Zipp made walking look like a dance, each deliberate step light and airy- her butt was incredibly toned. . .

Misty blushed furiously as she tried to tamp down her emotions, slowly counting to ten as she tried to keep her cool.

Misty felt guilt over fantasizing about something more with her friends- or at least Zipp in particular. She looked briefly in the nearby mirror and felt like a monster- Opaline’s presence over her like a ghost, the barbed words of the alicorn belittling every inch of her body echoed in her mind. Ugly coat, her slightly masculine build, the length of her horn poking through her tangle of hair. And she couldn’t hide in the relief that Opaline was just needling her- she had watched the alicorn’s emotions and all she could see was the pale green of hate and contempt as the alicorn rattled off every single imperfection she could find in her unicorn charge.

She could recite the monologue even now because Opaline had said it to her every single night.

She flipped through “The Tantabus” ready to read some old poetry book or play and she kept flipping the pages.

Aged blank pages greeted her until the final page.

The only words in the book was “Hello there”

Misty rolled her eyes and imagined some ancestor of Zipp playing a small prank and putting their otherwise blank diary in the archives and then forgetting about it. It wasn’t the most unusual thing- Opaline’s library held many a superfluous book or diary that the alicorn had collected through the steady march of time. Except at least they weren't nearly empty.

Misty set the book aside and wished she had picked something else. It was just anticlimactic to open an ancient book and find nothing.

She turned off the nearby lamp and went to bed. She sunk into the mattress and fell asleep, the echoing words of Opaline pushing her into dreamland.

“I saved you in that forest. You should thank me. You came to me alone and you’ll probably die alone.”

Misty opened her eyes and felt the sun on her face, the bright warmth of the summer morning greeting her. She laid there for a moment letting the quiet moment surround her. She briefly felt a sense of peace wash over her as she looked at her small room in the Brighthouse, the small army of stuffed animals watching over her.

Zipp’s head broke the moment as she appeared over Misty’s right side like a ghost. “Hey, sleepyhead. Was last night as good for you as it was for me?” Zipp leaned in and hovered over Misty, her closeness making the blue unicorn notice that Zipp’s large eyes were cyan pools that she could get lost in.

“What are you talking about? And how did we get back to the Brighthouse so soon? I thought our trip was going to be a week?”

Zipp laid a hoof on Misty’s mouth to stop her questions and Misty could smell the tang of cinnamon that the Pegasus had. She couldn’t place if it was her natural scent or if it was the scent of Zipp’s shampoo- Misty had always been too afraid to ask. But it was such a beautiful scent that Misty didn’t care- it was just quintessential Zipp.

“Shh, I was talking about our little sex romp we had.”

Misty nearly choked as Zipp traced circles in her stomach. “This has to be a joke.” She looked around for cameras, expecting Pipp to pop out and proclaim this was the best sister combo prank ever. That was the only thing that made sense.

Zipp cocked her head and looked hurt. “I don’t joke around, Misty. That’s Pipp or Izzy’s thing. I’m serious. We totally fucked”

“How is that even possible? Not that it would be a bad thing but we’re both mares. And it’s all so fast that I might have forgot how exactly that happened. So just run that by me again.”

Zipp sighed. “Figures. You did faint right after we did it for the final time.” Zipp got on top of the covers and laid her head on Misty’s chest as she looked into Misty’s eyes. “Well that’s easy we started with the basics. Foreplay. You were so sweet and we took it slow because it was your first time. . .” Zipp preened a loose feather and let the magenta feather drift onto the bed. “Then we tried out some simple mare on mare action.”

Misty blushed. “How does that work again?” She was too afraid to ask.

Zipp grinned and whispered into Misty’s ear. “You know. Friction. When two mares love each other very much they interlock their lower hooves and press their lower bodies together, their most secret places kissing each other so very, very gently. And then they start moving in a tangle of hooves, their need for attention and affection building until release.”

“Oh.” Misty blushed and hid her face in her mane as she tried to get the image that built in her mind.

“And I wasn’t done.” Zipp’s devilish smile filled Misty’s vision. “What with how in shape I am- I could go all night and we nearly did. But hot lesbian action can only do so much for a mare like me. So we tried out that spell Izzy and Sunny use.”

Misty stammer out a quick reply. “I-uh, which one was that again?”

“Misty Brightdawn, you know damn well which one I’m talking about. The one that you hear every week when Izzy or Sunny forgets to soundproof their room. The one that makes Sunny cry out like she’s been speared by a weapon and the exact one that makes Izzy’s voice drop two octaves. That one.”

Misty had guessed it had been the spell that Izzy talked about in excited tones, her emotional aura like the blinding sun with how yellow with joy it was. “I didn’t think I knew that spell yet.”

Zipp shrugged. “Magic is all about belief- actions tangled in the emotional jungle of need. You’d be surprised how simple you found the spell. . .Izzy’s a creative genius and she could do it in her sleep, but she did it with shoestring and a dream. You though? You showed how good you are with magic. She has finesse, you have power.”

Misty looked at Zipp, now thoroughly confused since the quiet unicorn would never ever call herself great with magic. She could do it, yes, but with how much Opaline ranted about the wonders of magic, the more Misty had thought it wasn’t for her. She had no cutie mark- a part of her thought that meant she was truly and deeply broken. Unable to even use magic.

“That sounds ridiculous.”

Zipp shook her head. “Nah, the moment you used that spell you had a fat, footlong dick. Nothing too crazy since unlike my sister, I’m not a size queen. . .but your balls were just another level. I heard some stallions had an innate connection to magic. . .the moment you used that spell, your blue balls swelled to some prize winning pumpkins. Thank goodness I actually took a pic to save that for later”

“That sounds impossible.”

“Nah, magic is stored in the balls, Misty. Rode you like one of those mechanical bulls. And I can tell you have magical talent, Misty.”

“How is that, Zipp?”

Zipp smiled. “Because it’s been a few thousand years since I talked to a pony in a sexual dream such as this. You have a rather impressive imagination, Misty.”

Misty stared as Zipp melted into a mass of stars, her flesh melting off her bones and pooling on the bed, her blue eyes two lakes of emotions swirling in the viscera and goo.

The skeleton smiled at her, its now empty eye sockets glowed with a yellow light and Misty began to scream in terror.

***

Misty woke up in a pool of sweat, her mane hanging over her eyes in wet ringlets. She breathed out as she grounded herself to reality, taking in the faint smell of lilacs and sage, the feel of the bed on her skin, the almost imperceptible roughness of a nine hundred thread count sheet, she poked her soft middle and her hoof sank an inch before she felt the hard muscle underneath- months of snacking had filled out her figure. . . another thing to obsess and worry over.

She curled up into a ball and looked at the harsh red of the digital clock read four thirty. She pinched herself to make sure she was fully awake and it wasn’t some cosmic nightmare.

The sharp, quick pinch told her that it was real and with that she turned in the light, now fully awake and unable to fall asleep.

It wasn’t uncommon for her to have nightmares since she was so attuned to emotions that they could bleed over and influence her own- she had enough dreams where Izzy’s vivid imagination sent her to an amusement park. Or she had that reoccurring dream of being in the woods- she couldn’t place whose emotions those came from. But this one felt so real.

She turned the light on and cantered over to the desk. The old book sat open to the same final page. Yet the sepia tinged paper, stained with age, had no writing on it.

It just sat blank. Like she had dreamed up the two words that she swore she had read.

She sat in silence until the sun rose.