//------------------------------//
// Side Story Three: Splitting in Two 
// Story: Travelers or Nomads? 
// by bigmacbush 
//------------------------------//


|||||||     Takes place after Volume Three     |||||||


-------     Chapter One: The Backfire     -------

It was a few days after the Princesses came to go over the blueprints, but this happened when I was taking a break for a few hours. While I was relaxing for a while in the hot spring, taking a quick bath to calm my nerves, Smiley came in the bath, not to bathe, but to ask
"Hey Tech, do you think you could help me with some magic training?" he asked hoping I would say yes.
"Sure, just give me a while to finish my bath." I said in a calm manner, not knowing what would happen in the coming events that took place.
Smiley wanted to get better at using magic, so we tested an ancient tome, it was hard to make out based on the text used but it essentially splits the object hit in half. After some preparations we tested the spell "Equinious transforus!" We had aimed for the table as practice, but it ricocheted and hit me instead, I was unconscious for a few minutes, but when I woke up, I was shocked and amazed to see that it worked, and to meet my (technical) sister.
According to the others, she was extremely friendly and they almost immediately became friends with the others that they were more than fine to have her around, as she was pleasant company.
She was..... like my opposite, she seemed bombastic and hyperactive, for no real reason I asked "Do you know your own name?" Almost as if she was prepared to answer she said "My name's Ballistic Voltswitch!" in an extremely excited voice. Then I remembered that my parents told me if I was a mare my name would've been Ballistic Voltswitch, this blew my mind, "does she have her own memories?" was the first thing I thought after realizing that,
yet when I asked she looked down and said, in a sad tone "No, I just appeared, I know that I'm not actually real."
then she excitedly said "At least not yet!"
"What do you mean not yet?" I asked curious about the situation.
"The spell used to create me only lasts a few months, unless a stable life source or flow of magic prolongs my existence." she answered perfectly understanding her current existential being.
"How do you know all of this, despite just getting created?" again I asked with a need for a good sense of understanding.
"Everything I just told you is common knowledge for artificial beings like myself, we are not meant to last long, unless strong magical ability is used to create us then we can last quite a long time." artificial beings? Perhaps I'll try to talk to her later to get to know my artificial sister.
Even if it's only for a couple of months she's still family and if I can find a way to keep her around for good, it would definitely be worth it, maybe she'll get along with mom and dad. Later the same day, I asked her about having a place to stay, making sure to offer a spare room, we keep a lot of those in this house just in case of situations not quite like this, but similar in reasoning. She was hesitant at first but decided that it was probably for the best that she stay with us, after showing her around the house, she seemed to be somewhat amazed at the sheer size of the house that we live,
in her amazement she said this out loud "Wow, you sure have a big house for only four ponies."
"Well yeah, we need extra rooms in case something like this happens or for storage if we get too many things stuffed in the basement." I pointed out with pride with my sense of architecture.
"There's a basement?!" she exclaimed as if she's never heard of a house with a basement before. Then again the tome she came from was created a long time ago, she must have the mindset of the past instead of the current time.
"Yeah, of course we have a basement, why wouldn't we?" I asked wondering why that was weird.
"Well I've never seen a house with a basement before. So if you have a basement, what do you guys do for a living?"
"We travel and search for things to sell or keep in the many ranges of Equestria, sometimes looting and occasionally doing mercenary work, though I haven't been contacted for mercenary work in a while." I explained feeling strong and proud of my lifestyle.
"You're a mercenary? How long have you been like this?" she asked feeling a tad afraid of the things I may have done.
"Since I was a teenager, though like I said I have not had any contracts in a long time, dangerous pony sightings have started slowing down for a while now, reducing the amount of contracts I get." I told her, making sure she knows that I have been doing this for a long time.
"Since you were a teenager?!" again she said shocked by the amount of time I have been a mercenary.
"Yeah, I was recruited by a guild called the Moonlight guild, but I'll tell you that story another time, now's not the time for it, it's shows a darker side of me I would rather not have a lot of ponies know about quite yet.
After that we remained silent, not wanting to indulge into my only slightly dark past and youth, though like I said that's a story for another time. After showing her to her room though,
she had this to say "Which room do you sleep in?"
I answered with "Why do you want to know where I sleep?" I asked with a need for confirmation as to understand her motives for her questioning.
"O-o-oh I was hoping we could share a room, we are family after all right?" she answered and asked while blushing slightly.
"Sure, but no funny ideas got it?" I answered with strong and stern expression, including a unamused attitude towards the idea of sleeping together.
"Are there any leftover beds?" She asked hoping there was no extra bedding so we would have to sleep in the same bed.
"Of course there are, I'll go get it from the basement, I'll get it ready within the hour, since it's not assembled yet." I again answered knowing what she wanted to happen tonight.
She sighed, disappointed about what I told her since she wanted us to sleep together, I would be fine with it any other time, but she's technically my sister so I did not want to delve into that, at least not until she met my... no our parents about it before hoof, by Luna I hope this sort of thing isn't allowed.
As the night came, my sister was hoping I would go to bed early, however I don't go to sleep until it's about three or four in the morning, I work until then and sleep for roughly five hours. It's quite strange that my sleeping arrangements have changed so much in the time we have lived here in Ponyville, not that I would change it either way, I feel at peace at night, it helps me work.


-------     Chapter Two: Finding Good Points     -------

The very next morning I found myself in my bed, and it wasn't just me, my sister decided to sneak into my bed while I was asleep, she laid there with a huge smile on her face, probably just happy to just sleep in the same bed as me, however as I was about to get out of bed and get to work, she clung onto me, most likely awake and just doesn't want me to get out of bed just yet. Regardless I force myself out of her grip and get out of bed,
when I get off she says "What, is it morning already?"
"Of course it is, now get up, there's work to be done today." I ordered with a tone of command, not wasting any time.
"So, what's the plan for today?" she asked, wondering what today would foretell in terms of events.
"First: Figure out how to prolong your existence in this world, so we can begin to have a five-pony team instead of four. Second: Find out what skills you have, since you and I are different so we can determine what abilities you can bring to the team, as I already mentioned. Third: Try to find out where mom and dad are so we can get them to meet you, so you can become a legitimate member of the family." I answered, putting emphasis on my words so she knows the points for today's primary work.
"Wow, that's a lot for one day, are you sure we can do all that in one day?" 
"Again of course, that's actually sounds easy unlike some other days that I have experienced in this house."
After our little conversation, we left the room to go get started on point one, figure out how to prolong her existence, so I went back to the tome to find out a plan for this. My sister on the other hoof decided to go to the kitchen to get something to eat, then she turned to me, having forgotten where it was
"Go down the stairs, down the hallway, second door on the left for kitchen, opposite door for the dining room." I told her, figuring she'd forget just in case.
After telling her that I continued my trot to the upstairs living room to look over the tome, hoping to understand the spell better enough to find a way to prolong my sister's existence in this world, though the language as old as it is is not making this in any way easier, perhaps I'll send a letter to the Princesses to ask for assistance in the language they used to speak in Old Equestria.
I took the tome over to my room and figured I should do a side-by-side in the text to try to translate the original into modern day Equestrian, it was at this time my sister came into the room to check what I was up to, curious as to why I was going over the tome, even though I had already told her what I was going to do while she was around.
She saw what I was doing and asked "Why is this so hard for you to read? It pretty cut and clear what it means."
"What do you mean? This is not modern Equestrian, it uses a different vocabulary than what we speak today." I said, frustrated about how difficult this was to try to translate.
"Well, since I came from this tome, in a way. I could give you pointers about how to read it and figure out what it means." she offered, hoping I would accept her help, since I was the only relative she had at this point.
"Well you offered, so I'll accept your help, this isn't easy to read anyway." I said humbly and thankful for her help on the tome.
Not going into specifics, we made decent headway on the tome and deciphered the meaning, apparently she needs life and a flow of magic to keep her shape and form, though the magic and life she needs is different from the current day equivalents. It requires life from other ponies and internal magic that flows from within ponies that are not unicorns. It's more clear why this spell was considered "forbidden" it would appear that this was made from the times of the long-past Race War, the one that pitted the three races against one another, and this spell was one used by non-unicorns to help kill them by creating a pony of immeasurable power, this makes more sense why it backfired, we misread it and tried to use it on a object and not a pony, creating such a unknown product.
Attempting to keep her around may prove to be trickier than I had anticipated, I wonder if I can create a new spell to change the conditions of the original spell? I may need to go see Twilight about this sort of thing, since it wouldn't be easy to create a new spell made to change an already existing spell. On second thought, maybe showing this to Twilight would only prove to be a bigger hassle than I think it would be, since I don't think she would be okay with an artificial being made from magic, from what I can remember she has already dealt with the Mirror Pool, or lake, or whatever it was, taking my sister to her could also be hazardous to her life, not that I'd let Twilight kill her without repercussions anyway.
Before getting started on the spell alteration I took a break to get a chance to get to know my sister to see what she was capable in combat, one on one against me obviously, since I understand her better than the others. She's shockingly sociable despite having only just got into this world, although she hasn't left the house yet, which is good since I don't want her leaving the house just yet for she is not considered a resident of Equestria quite yet, after I solidify her existence I'll help her become a legal citizen, which will require me to get mom and dad for this as well.


-------    Chapter Three: Confrontation     -------

We had to make some room in the basement for my sister and I to have a quick fight, luckily Crazy Bread was at home since I could count on him to make a magic barrier (from one of the barrier tomes in the basement) to make sure nothing gets damaged in the middle of the fight. I went with my sword and shield style, she on the other hoof went with claymore style, which surprised me, I had touched up on that style but never really went far with it, too complex and weighty for a traveler, not my style. I went in well armored and she only used light armor, which made sense because the style she's using is not good for someone with heavy armor that I usually end up using whenever we head out for travels.
After the fight started she rushed me, wrong move, as she swung her claymore, I immediately block and repelled her sword and pushed her back in the process, stumbling I went for another shield bash, which she in turn also blocked, which was impressive since it's not easy to even attempt to block with a claymore with the length she was using, in turn I went on the aggressive and tried to go for a quick match, putting as much force as I can into the swings that followed to keep her on the tips of her hooves, which worked since she seemed to be a tad panicked and flustered about what to do against my onslaught of attacks. After a minute or two of my onslaught she took a breather, exhausted from the difficulty that was to block my sword,
feeling cocky I said this "How about this? I'll drop the sword and only use my shield."
"Please do, you are too rough with your fighting." she said, panting and tired from having to block so much.
Immediately after that I decided to try out something I had not practiced all that much in the past, fighting while bipedal, I had heard it was something that never caught on in the past, but was apparently used in ancient times. Doing so made it somewhat awkward to stand but understandable for combat, using my hooves would prove to be harder to block, so I went ahead and moved my shield strap that binds it to my hooves and moved it over to my left wing, this seemed a bit more natural when bipedal, this way I could use my height and posture to my advantage, since I was pretty strong to take the swings, which would only be more manageable if I use my body as a counterweight to take the force.
With my brand new understanding of this style, I again went on the aggressive, with my shield attached to my wing. Pushing forward was awkward to say the least, considering I haven't practiced walking bipedal all that much in the past, noticing my unease, she recuperated and went on the offensive herself, swinging a large two-sided blade so quickly is not an easy feat, especially so since she has to use both her mouth and hooves to support the blade by itself. The force of her swings alone were almost enough to knock me down, but I maintained my footing by buckling down and crouching slightly, it stung to do, but it was nothing compared to everything else I have been through so far. It wasn't long 'til she ran out of breath again, makes sense considering how hard she tried to knock me down and get the advantage on me, though I was never one to give up that easily, after she exhausted herself I gave a quick sideways shield bash and knocked her claymore away, making it obvious that I would win.
"Well, you done now?"
"No, not yet, I have to win!" she said with a somewhat aggressive tone.
"You can keep trying, but it'll only end the same way."
"Fine then, you know, you are way too tough."
"Well I have been traveling for quite a long time, this is nothing to me in all honesty."
Through this small conversation, she lowered my guard, making me less aware of my stance as I was about to lower myself to walk on four hooves again, that was at least before she shouted this out.
"Now you finally lowered your guard. Take this!"
"As if this would be that easy."
Immediately after I said that I got back on my hind hooves and crouched as low as I can to gather force. As she swung her claymore with all her might, I in turn went to deflect her swing with all of my might, hoping to make her lose her grip, I was right to do so since after the deflection, her claymore went flying behind her as she dropped to the floor, it would seem the force was a bit too much for her to handle, as she was barely conscious, she only had one thing to say.
"Good fight, big bro." she said as she immediately passed out.
"What are we going to do about her now?" asked Crazy since he was here to watch.
"I'll take her up to the room, she could use some rest, she seems exhausted from that fight. Claymores are not the easiest weapon to use after all." I said as I took off both of our armor and placed her on my back to carry her up two flights of stairs, since we were in the basement.
After taking my sister up to the room, I went back into the study, taking the tome with me, hoping that I would manage to figure out how to reconfigure it within the next few days, shouldn't take long, I have messed around with a couple of tomes in the past, though not one like this.


-------     Chapter Four: Homecoming     -------

The very next day, whilst taking a break from the tome, I figured I should take some time to go back to Neighborton, maybe my parents are there, and if they are, I should ask them to visit sometime or to come back with me to see their brand-new daughter, I'm sure they'll be confused, but happy none-the-less, they have said they wished they had time to have another baby but couldn't due to reasons they refused to tell me about before they left spontaneously. Deciding to leave tomorrow, I told everyone about it and where I was going, in which my sister asked.
"You're going back to your hometown?! Can I come?!" she gasped.
"No, I'm sorry but it's too risky to have you going anywhere, you don't have official citizenship and may be arrested on the spot. At worst you'll be mistaken for a Changeling, also there's a good chance mom and dad may not be there in the first place"
"Awww, I wanted to come along and meet mom and dad, and see the town where you grew up."
"Don't worry, you'll be better off here. The locals in the area may still look at me as a possible threat and may attempt to kill me."
"What, why would the ponies from your hometown try to do that?"
"Not entirely sure, though odds are I may be completely wrong. The condition of Neighborton could perhaps be better than I imagined it to be"
"What will you do upon your arrival?"
"Don't know, haven't thought about it yet, I'll figure it out when I get there. Either way I'm leaving tomorrow regardless."
Leaving it at that, I continued to get my things ready, answering any other smaller questions that followed, and denying requests to have anyone else come along. Bright and early in the morning, I went ahead and put on my traveling clothes, since armor would only cause a burden, since it would be too hot to walk there otherwise.
Before setting out on my trek to my hometown, I figured I was going back into the local area in the process so I went ahead and applied my Guild Badge onto my clothing, it was strange since I had not worn it in years, yet it still looked brand-new. Still has my name and the name of the guild I was a part of, the Moonlight Guild, upon looking at the back I saw the title I used to yield "Second-in-Command" I wonder if I ran into them, would they still remember me? Meh probably not, I don't expect them to remember me after all these years.
Throughout my travels I have come across some of the locations I used to take on jobs for in my days in my old guild, ahh memories. Along my travels back to Neighborton I ran into a couple of villages for food and such, remarkably some of the locals in the area seemed to recognize me, guess my Guild Badge is still in effect in this area, at that time I pondered whether anypony in the guild would recognize me after all this time, or would my rank in the guild still be the same? Oh well those answers would have to wait until I run into them again. Also along the way I ran into some ponies who I seemed to have forgotten about since I took some requests back in my day of the guild and never got around to finishing them, in light of this I paid them back the old quest reward at least tenfold to repay the old debts after all these years.
Alongside my travels I ran into a mare who seemed to show an interest in Crazy Bread, but he's never mentioned having a marefriend,
in vie of I ask "How do you know Crazy Bread?"
She responded with "Oh he's just an old friend." while looking away from me.
"Really now? If he knew someone like you he would've mentioned it by now." I said with disbelief.
"Oh trust me he's and old friend, we go back a long way." she pointed out with a suspicious look in her eyes, as if trying to find out more from me.
"Well, if you're truly a friend of a friend, then I'll have you know he happens to live with myself and three others in Ponyville."
"Are there any mares involved?!" she said with a jealous sense of rage.
"Only two, but I am not sure if he is interested in either of them, he always shies away when they are a bit too friendly around him."
"Good, good I still have a chance." she said as she smiled and drooled a little bit as she was most likely thinking about him.
"Okay I'm leaving, good day to you ma'am." I said as I was turning and leaving while she was chuckling in a strange fashion, somewhat creepy if I had to say, if I was more sensible in a way I would've said nothing.
As I was making my leave, I felt this sense of unease, almost as if I was being followed, though I never seemed to see anypony behind me, must just be my imagination. This feeling is strange as I never seemed to see anyone behind me, despite there being only road behind me, nothing to hide behind.
After some time, while still somewhat uneasy, I saw Neighborton off on the horizon and felt a sense of nostalgia wash over me as I approached my hometown, hoping mom and dad would be there, as I had gotten closer I was stopped by the towns-ponies.
"Halt! What is your name, stranger?"
"My name is Techno Sparklers, and I'm not a stranger, I grew up here."
"That is a lie and you know it! Techno Sparklers died here many years ago defending the village from bandits."
"Well I'm not dead and here is my Guild Badge to prove it."
"Is that a badge for the Moonlight guild?"
"Yes and I'm the second-in-command."
"Please excuse me." he said just before he left.
"COMMANDER MOONLIGHT!" I heard off in the distance as he yelled out for his commander.
Shortly after meeting up with his superior came a stallion in what would appear to be heavy armor, I am uncertain why but he seemed to be extremely familiar to me, strange as it was.
"Well if it isn't good old Second-in-Command Sparklers. How have ya been ol' buddy ol' pal?"
"I have been fine Commander, how have the times treated you sir?"
"No need to be so formal Tech, it's your ol' buddy, Moonlight Eclipse. We practically built up this guild to what it is now."
"Though it has been a few years since I have decided to travel the world and go on my own, by the by how is Darkest Crescent?"
"Still feels down but empowered since he got his flank handed to himself from you, with just your shield no less."
"And I was only a colt back in those days, wasn't even in the guild yet, I needed to prove to all of you that I was capable of joining. Anyway, you guys managed to convince everyone in Neighborton to become a Guild-Town?"
After asking that question we had moved over to where their headquarters is to discuss what had happened in the time I have been gone. According to them they had been planning to go from a regular guild to running a Guild-Town, the town where I grew up was apparently the best place to petition for this sort of thing, after my initial questioning, I went ahead and asked if my parents were around, allegedly they were just here a week ago, they left to go in search of something, probably going on a resource-hunt. While I was here, I had asked Commander Moonlight if he could give them a message telling them their son asked them to come by and visit Ponyville their's a surprise for them on their arrival.
"Really you live in Ponyville now?" asked the Commander.
"Yeah, what's so wrong with that?" I stupidly answer a question with another question.
"I heard that their seems to be a significant rise in beast and creature occurrences in that area, are you and the other villagers fine living there?"
"Yeah, everything gets handled by the local Police Department, and if everything gets worse, they send us in or ask Princess Twilight to handle it."
"Really? You guys can handle that sort of thing?"
"Well yeah, honestly I can take care of stuff like that on my own, it's just faster if me and the others work together."
"You have your own guild now?"
"No, I have no need to make my own guild, besides making a guild would require me to leave this guild first."
"Then what is your plan regarding the Moonlight guild old friend?"
"I intend to stay in rank and help spread the name of the Moonlight guild to get you guys more jobs, I'll start wearing my guild badge more frequently from now on, perhaps I'll request my friends back home to join."
"That's very nice of you Tech, not something I'd expect from a stallion of your stature. In your departure you have been known as the "Vanquisher" many tales of your feats of destruction has been spread throughout Equestria."
"Really? I saved a few villages here and there, what if I inspired them to travel and help those in need all the same as I have?"
"Perhaps, though the title of Vanquisher has spread pretty far, maybe the Princesses will catch wind of it and make it your official title"
"One can only hope right? Anyhow I guess I'll look into my old house and see what I can take back to my new home."
"Wait don't!" he yelled suddenly like his life depended on it.
"Why?" I asked hoping for a reasonable answer.
"Your parents have made it clear that they a gift to give to you themselves and would not forgive me if I just let you ruin their surprise like that."
Understanding that meant that they still live in the same house, I go ahead and begin my travel back home to Ponyville, telling my sister the sad news that she'll have to wait for a while to see mom and dad. Upon my departure, Moonlight gave me a gift of ingots of rather valuable ore,
with a note attached "These bars are one of a kind made by us, may time tell if we can send you more in the future."
With a slight smile I begin my trot back to my home and friends back in Ponyville, with both good news and bad news that I hope they'll take well. It had only been a few days, but I can tell that I am not that far away from home, I felt as though I was actually excited to be home and with friends again, but upon my arrival my heart soon sank as I learned what had happened in my absence.


-------     Chapter Five: The Life Taker     -------

Just before I had arrived at home, I saw Crazy Bread at the front door panicking and waiting for me to come back, when he saw me he started waving his hooves hoping I would rush, which I did and got back as fast as I possibly can.
When I got back Crazy said "Tech, you gotta go see your sister." he said sounding worried, which at the time I was unsure of why.
"Why?" I asked somewhat scared.
"It's the magic, she doesn't have enough life energy to stay with us any longer, if we don't do anything she'll fade away from existence!"
"Where is she!?"
"She's upstairs in your room, she hasn't waken up yet."
After hearing that I rush upstairs and see her in bed, motionless, but breathing, she's exhausted and can't do anything.
"Balli! what happened to you!?"
"it's the magic that binds me here, it won't allow me to stay here any longer than this. I'm sorry big bro, but it's time I left you guys alone."
Quietly everyone was here waiting, knowing there was nothing we could do as we slowly waited for her to disappear from our live forever.
"No." I said quietly, but loud enough for everyone else to hear.
"What do you "no" big bro?"
"No, I won't just let you disappear from us forever like this! You are family now, mom and dad were gonna hear about where we live and visit, and I wanted you to meet them and become a legal citizen. I will not let something this amazing to just go away like this!"
"Can't we just use the same spell to make another one?" asked Smiley.
"No, we can't just do that, because they won't be the same pony we know now."
"Smiley, use your magic to make sure she has enough life energy to maintain her form, Crazy and Maple, I'll need your help to find something downstairs in the basement." I said as it appeared she was about to disappear.
With the three of us in the basement, I commanded "Look for any spell labeled "Life Drainer" that's our only hope of keeping Balli with us right now."
After what felt like eternity, we found the tome were looking and rushed upstairs back to the room, when we got back in, we saw an exhausted Smiley, clearly drained from having to use his magic to keep Balli around as long as possible.
"What are you going to do big bro?" Balli asked as she looked she was slowly dying, which sadly enough she was.
"I'm going to use a Life Drainer spell to take the life energy from to give to you, so you can live on."
"What!? No you can't do that to yourself, you'll more than likely die!" she yelled after mustering up her voice to bring it to yell.
"Yeah, more than likely, not guaranteed, at least this way you'll live."
No one stopping me, they just stood back and watched it as it happened.
When I was ready I caste the Life Drainer spell while she was still in bed, even now I don't remember what words we used to cast the spell, but it was not easy to pronounce in the slightest.
At first I exclaimed in pain as it was taking my life energy, though at some point I don't know when the tome that was used to make Ballistic Voltswitch appear out of nowhere, what seemed strange after thinking about it was that it was keeping track of how much life energy she had. I don't know how much time had passed since I started the spell, I just know that I was slowly dying due to it. After an unknown amount of time, there was a voice, it never came from any of us, but rather the tome itself.
"The spell is complete."
Immediately after that I fell over, nearly dead, barely conscious. While I was in this state, Balli came over to me.
"Why!? Why did you do all this for me!?"
In a exhausted and barely audible voice, I said "Because you're my little sister, I don't want to see you die in front of me."
"Well I don't want to see you die in front of me! Why do you have to go so far just for me!?"
Barely conscious, exhausted and about to pass out. There was only one thing I knew would make this better, well to make her calm down and think rationally. Putting on the most genuine smile I could, I said.
"Boop"
After that I passed out and was not able to make note of what happened, but based on what I had heard from the others I will continue this story based on what they know of the situation.


-------     Chapter Six: The Aftermath     -------

At this point, I will be telling this story based on I heard from the others, according to what I heard,
after I booped Balli on the muzzle, she screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" and picked me up and flew straight to Canterlot.
Even now not breaking the law, she went to the front gate to the castle,
she went to the guards-ponies and was freaking out "Please get some help, he's dying!" 
"Who is this individual in need of help?"
"His name is Techno Sparklers, I'm his sister, Ballistic Voltswitch. Please he needs help, please let me see the Princesses!"
At some point the Princesses had heard of what was going on, and came to find out what the ruckus was about.
"Hello, my little pony, who might you be?"
"My name is Ballistic Voltswitch, I'm a being made entirely of magic, but that's not important, please save my big brother!"
After look at who it was that needed help, they realized that it was me,
afterwards Princess Celestia said "Guards, get the Royal Emergency Room ready, he needs immediate magical help. Now!"
It took some time for the others to get to Canterlot, but they got there shortly after the news that I would be fine with time, though whether or not I could continue to go on adventures and expeditions would be an entirely different matter in and of itself.
Later according to Balli, she had a meeting with Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna, primarily to discuss what had happened to have had created Balli out of magic, then later to discuss why I had been in the state that I was.
"So, first and foremost, you are truly a being made of magic?"
"Yes ma'am, the tome I came from was made a few centuries ago, some time before you came into rule I'd imagine."
"Would you please use some of the words used in this tome?"
After that they had started conversing in ancient tongue, it had been some time since Princess Celestia has spoken in this dialect, this was a breath of fresh air to her. Luna on the other hoof, had no real idea what was being said, due to her banishment on the moon of course.
It was some time after this had occurred that Celestia had suggested making her a legal citizen of Equestria, in which Balli was more than happy to become a legitimate citizen, it was shortly after that Celestia had found out what spell she came from that she went ahead and checked out whether or not she would be able to live the rest of her life like an ordinary pony living in our world.
Immediately after this they went ahead and went to go check on me, they had heard that I could live, if only I was able to get the amount of life energy back into my system that I had lost to maintain Balli's existence, fortunately the magic that was needed to bring me back, was not as dangerous as the magic used to keep her around, it was in fact easier to make than what I had done. Knowing this they had decided to attach me to an magic exhibitor, which would apply and maintain the magic in my system, hopefully in time bring me back to the conscious world and not in a dead-like state.
The day after they had confirmed that I would need time, Celestia prompted everypony to leave, everyone agreed except my sister, she had told them that she felt like she was necessary, which was later found out to be true in every sense of the word during the first night.
My sister had decided to stay with me throughout the first night, though I wasn't conscious at the time,
I swear that I heard her say "Please don't die on me. I don't want to lose my only brother in this world."
After that she fell asleep, it was later found out when a guard was making their rounds that my sister was in fact glowing alongside me, almost like she was providing me with magic from her own emotions, this was later told to the Princesses, in vie of this she had prompted my sister to keep her there to make sure my recovery would be swift and safe.
In the morning when the doctors came by they had found out that I was actually in better condition than I was the day before, the day before I could barely breathe properly, but now my breathing was a bit more regulated, rugged but regulated, my heart rate appeared to have stabilized, though the amount of time required for my recovery would largely remain the same, this continued for many days and months.
I know that at some point they had brought in my two companions, Timby and Squiggles, they noted that I smiled when they here with me, helping me feel secure and safe, they were also allowed to stay at the castle, they too spent the nights watching over me and they had shown the same glow that Balli had shown the first night she was here.
My recovery was going smoothly, they had kept me under close surveillance to make sure that nothing was wrong with my internal systems, everything had seemed to be fine, almost as though my body was adapting to the feeling of magic entering my system, must of been because of an old curse, but that story can wait for another time, not now.


-------     Chapter Seven: Recovery Period     -------

I had waken up after what felt like an eternity, as my eyes awoken, I could feel someone close by, then felt two others, I tried to move but couldn't,
the only thing I could do was say "W-w-who is here?" while sounding weak and exhausted.
"You're awake?! Oh thank goodness you're alive!" I heard from a familiar voice, sadly I was too tired to move.
After that was said out loud, many more were on their way to come to see me. One by one I heard more voices welcoming me back, as though I have been gone for a long time,
what I said at this point was "Who's all out there?" my voice only a tad strained.
Again one by one, I had heard many voices, though I couldn't place any of them, I was too tired and exhausted, not only that my ears were still slightly ringing from waking up from what had felt like a coma.
There was another voice, this one I could hear clearly,
I can hear them say "Don't worry you're going to be okay, you may require a few more days in bed to recover back to your former self, but you'll be okay."
A few more days in bed huh? I don't mind taking a break for a couple of days, I only wish I was able to know who was here to greet me back to the world of the living.
After that, I could barely hear the sound of ponies leaving the room I was, I could also hear wings flapping and wood clanking against the solid floor in the room, must be Timby and Squiggles here to watch over me while I was in my coma.
The very next morning I was again greeted by familiar voices saying "You feeling better today champ?"
While squinting I replied "Yeah, my eyes are not quite up to speed, but I'm getting there, I imagine that I'll be able to see later today.
"Well don't rush yourself alright sweetie? You don't have to worry about us going somewhere anytime soon, we'll stick around until you're feeling all better, but we'll leave your gift right here. Honey would you please get our boy's gift from our rooms?"
"Y-y-y-yes dear, I-I'll go get it now, be right back sonny."
I knew who it was based on that alone, it was mom and dad, they must've found out I was hospitalized and came to visit.
I may be unable to see, but I still had to ask "Hey, have you guys seen Balli?"
"Oh you mean our really late daughter? Of course we have! We're glad she's apart of our life now, I'm also really proud of you sweetie, you put your life on the line for family, luckily you never died from it. I knew you had magical potential inside of you, I was going to wait for a better time than now to tell you though, not when you're on a hospital bed like this."
Shortly after mom was finished talking my dad, came into the room with this to say "H-h-here it is, n-now son you won't be able to use this immediately, b-b-but when you're able to I know you'll be capable of amazing things, we'll leave the case right here, and we'll see you again tomorrow."
After that they left, I was still in bed, trying to open my eyes properly, though try as I might, I couldn't. Later the same day after taking a nap, I was able to open my eyes, everything was still blurry though however. After some time of rapid blinking I was able to see, not as blurry, close to clear if anything. As I was looking around in the room I was in, I noticed a somewhat large case, still unopened next to my bed, must be mom and dad's present.
Now this was something that was not easy to do, but I tried to get off my bed, most of the things that were attached to my body came off, and I fell out of my bed and fell right onto the floor, I never yelled out of pain, but I was hurt none the less, it would appear that most of my muscles have not yet recovered, perhaps that was the reason why what appeared to be IV's were attached to me, to provide a way to restore my muscles after being in a short coma, or so I think it was short.
No one was around when I fell, while no one was around I tried to get myself up, it wasn't easy but I was able to, walking was a different matter, luckily it didn't take me a lot of time to get myself coordinated enough to walk around properly. As I was almost like my usual self, I went ahead and tried to leave my room, again not easy, I was wobbling and swerving as I left my room, I heard some chatter off to the left, so I decided to go in that direction.
Upon getting to where that chatter was, I ran into my sister, who was ecstatic to see me get out of bed, but was worried for the same reason,
she came up to me and said "Big bro are you feeling better?!"
"A bit, but I think I'll manage. Just hold on to me alright sis?"
"Sure, but do you think it's okay for you to be walking around like this? You're still hurt after all." she said then she held onto me, making sure I don't fall over out of nowhere.
"Yeah I should be fine, I just need to take my time getting used to walking around again, by the way, where are the others?"
"They're over in the main room, we're in the Health Ward over at the castle right now."
"So, while we're trotting down this hallway, why don't you fill me in on what's been going on since I've been unconscious? I mean you're here in Canterlot after all."
After that she filled me in on what's been going, the situation with her citizenship, the first time she met mom and dad, and everything else that's occurred in these last four months.
After our little talk we got into the room where everyone was waiting to see when would be a good time to see me in my room, that I wasn't in anymore. Upon seeing me up and at 'em they were all coming to give me a hug and were overall really glad to see me doing so well, apparently I was supposed to stay in bed for another week, but I guess I got better faster than expected I guess.
After everyone was congratulating me for a healthy recovery there was only one thing I could say due to all this.

"It feels good to be back everyone. Now let's go home."