The Mixer Chronicles

by Mixer

Shadows of the Past part 2

It was almost dusk when we finally arrived in New Pegisopolis.
All the Equestrian ponies were awed by the sheer size of the buildings, some of which were higher than the lowest clouds.
“Wow,” they all said as they admired it from the ship.
“Yep, that’s her, New Pegisopolis,” I said.
“You grew up here?” Twilight said.
“Yeah, though I never went in any of the larger skyscrapers,” I said.
“If you all are done sightseeing, we will be departing for the shore soon,” the Admiral said as he walked up to us.
“I trust that we will receive a warm welcome,” I said.
“Yes, there is an escort waiting for us that will take you to the palace,” the Admiral said.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” Luna said.
“Not at all, it is the least we can do for being so good to Mixer,” he said.
“Well, thank you regardless,” Luna said.
“Silverwing, I would like you to accompany them,” he said.
“Yes sir,” she replied.
“Now, if you'll excuse me I have to take care of some docking procedures,” he said as he left.
“He seems happier,” Ivy said.
“I’m sure he’s glad to be back, with the reason he left in the first place,” I said.
“Well, I’m just glad that we haven’t seen Blitz,” Silverwing said.
“The Admiral kept his word at least,” I said.
“I’ll be glad to be back on solid ground,” Brick said, leaning on the railing, looking like he was going to be sick.
“How did you hold it in the rest of the way?” Star Shine asked. “We rode through a freaking storm!”
“Good self control,” he replied.
We stood on deck until the ship finally docked and we were escorted down the gangplank by a pair of guards in blue uniforms.
They ushered us to a set of carriages and we got in and rode to the palace.
Luna and Silverwing were riding in the front with me.
“So what is the king like?” Luna asked.
“Well, he was a good king last I saw him. He was kind to his staff, loyal to his people, and compassionate to the problems of others,” I said.
“He’s been less involved in public since you left Mixer,” Silverwing said.
“He sound like a fine ruler,” Luna said.
“He was,” I said.
“He still is,” Silverwing corrected me.
“That’s good to hear,” I said.
I looked out the window and saw that we were approaching the palace.
“Look,” I said to Luna, pointing towards the palace.
“Impressive,” she said, admiring the rather large complex.
The palace was three stories with a domed fourth floor. There were two wings in addition to the main building, each almost as large as the centerpiece. The construction made a large courtyard on the other side of the building, which was enclosed by a security fence, to serve as a lawn and recreation area. Of course, some of these features were not visible from the front, but I lived in the palace for many years so I knew most of it like the back of my hoof.
“Yes, I still remember most of the layout,” I said.
“You must have a good memory,” Silverwing said.
“No, I’m just good with directions. By the way, how is the prince?” I asked.
“He took it kind of hard when you disappeared. He stopped going out amongst the people for almost three months,” Silverwing said.
“But he used to love sneaking out of the palace to be amongst the other ponies,” I said.
“Recently, he has been spending most of his time traveling the outlands, living amongst the ponies in the smaller settlements,” she said.
“I was hoping to see him again,” I said.
“You’ll be here for a few days, I’m sure he will get news of your return and come see you,” she said.
“We are here,” the driver said.
We stopped and exited the carriage and waited for the others to get out of their carriages.
“Right this way,” an attendant told us when we were all gathered.
We followed him inside and were greeted by the king’s steward, Quill Weaver.
“Mixer, is that really you?” he asked.
“Yes, it’s good to see you Quill,” I said to the aging grey earth pony.
“It is good to see you are back,” he said.
“Everypony, I would like to introduce the king’s steward, Quill Weaver,” I said.
“It is a pleasure,” he said bowing.
“The pleasure is all ours,” Luna said.
“Mixer, the king is in his chambers, you should go to him, I will escort the rest of you to the guest chambers so that you may relax until you can be attended to,” Quill said.
“Thank you for your hospitality,” Luna said, as I hurried to the third floor room where the king’s chambers were.
I neared the door and two guards stopped me.
“None can see the king without clearance,” one of them said.
“I am Mixer, the king’s head chemist,” I announced.
Their eye went wide as the guard that addressed me said, “I’m sorry sir, go right in.”
I walked in and slowly made my way over to a nurse who was sitting in a chair by the wall.
“Who is it?” I heard the king’s voice say from the large bed towards the other wall.
“I will check,” she said, walking over to me.
“Tender Heart, I’m here to help the king,” I said.
“Mixer it really is you,” she said.
"How is Prime Arch?" I asked.
“Did I hear the voice of my best chemist?” the king asked sitting up, giving a cough after doing so.
“Yes, you did,” I said, walking over to him.
“Mixer, so good to see you again,” he said, his voice shaking slightly.
“You sound terrible,” I said.
“Oh, it’s nothing, just a bit of a bug,” he said, going into a coughing fit.
“It’s not nothing, but I’m here to help,” I said.
“That’s good to hear,” he said laying back down.
“Is the lab still up and running?” I asked.
“It hasn’t stopped,” he said.
“I’ll be back soon,” I said, rushing out of the room.
I ran to the lab on the second floor east wing and donned my old lab gear.
“M-mixer sir?” an assistant asked as I stepped in.
“Tell me, what do we have going now?” I asked him.
“Well, we don’t have anything going now,” he said.
“Quick, get me one of the doctors, I need to know what to mix,” I said, as I started setting up a workspace.
“Right away,” he said and left.
He came back with a unicorn mare in a white lab coat and glasses.
“What are the king’s symptoms?” I asked, looking through a list of chemicals that were in stock.
“He has almost no appetite, we have to force him to eat anything, he has a cough that is of undetermined origin, it could be an effect of many issues. He has been losing strength and sleeping more lately,” she said.
“Ok, so I need a sample of his blood, and a few other sample to see what I can find. Can you do that?” I asked.
“We already tested his blood and didn’t find anything,” she said.
“I don’t care, I want to test it myself,” I said.
“And who would you be?” she asked.
I turned around, “I’m Mixer.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” she said.
“It’s ok, just go,” I said and turned around to start mixing some medication for the symptoms.
The mare came back a little while later with a few samples.
“I took a blood sample like you asked, along with a couple mucus samples,” she said.
“Thank you,” I said, and took some of the blood from the sample and put it in a petri dish.
I had a low powered microscope from before and didn’t see anything unusual, just like what the doctor had said.
I took the microscope apart with my magic and the doctor asked what I was doing.
“I’m putting in better lenses,” I said, and created a new set of crystal lenses.
I reassembled the microscope with its upgraded lenses and took another look.
Upon this closer inspection I was able to discern tiny anomalies on the blood cells.
“Hmm, I’ll have to look at that later, for now, take this to him and give him a small dose,” I said to the doctor.
“What is it?” she asked.
“It should help with the cough, and it might give him an appetite,” I said.
“Ok,” she said and left.
It was almost strange for ponies to be listening to my every order again.
“Sir, there is a pony here to see you, she says her name is Twilight sparkle,” the assistant said.
“Let her in,” I said and examined the blood sample again.
“Mixer, this lab is amazing,” she said.
“I know, I made sure that it was,” I said, examining the sample under a magical light. “Take a look at this,” I told her.
She looked at the sample, “What are those things?” she asked.
“If you mean the big red ones, those are blood cells, if you mean those little things attached to the blood cells, I don’t know,” I said.
“I never knew that such things existed,” she said.
“Not surprising considering the state of technology in Equestria,” I said.
She gave me a look.
“Not that that was an insult, just an observation, but I digress, I want your help in identifying the abnormalities attached to his blood cells,” I said.
“They almost look magical,” she said, looking again.
“Exactly, meaning that this couldn’t be a simple infection,” I said.
“So what, you think somepony did this to him?” she asked.
“I’d have to study them more closely to be sure, but yes,” I said.
“I can’t even detect any magic coming from them,” she said, her horn glowing with a detection spell.
“Yes, meaning that they would not appear in a diagnosis, especially since he’s a unicorn,” I said.
“This does sound like somepony did this to him,” Twilight said.
“I’ll start working on a way to get rid of them, you try and dispel whatever magic they have,” I said.
“Alright,” she said, preparing a dispelling spell.
She used the spell on the sample while I got together a set of possible cures.
“I don’t get it, I’ve tried three different dispelling spells, but none of them have done anything,” she said.
“Use the strongest one you’ve got,” I said.
“Alright,” she said and took on a cating stance and prepared the spell, her horn glowing brighter than I had seen it before.
After she cast the spell, and I could feel, the magic from a few feet away.
“I think that did it,” she said, looking at the sample. “What the?” she trailed off.
“What?” I asked looking at the sample.
The little abnormalities were detaching from the blood cells and coalescing into larger bodies. These bodies were starting to attack the blood cells, tearing them with sharp edges.
“That’s not good...” I said.
“They must be kept dormant by the magic,” Twilight said.
“His body can’t handle the aberrations, but If we use the spell on him he’ll die. We have to find a way to keep them from activating once they detach,” I said.
“How?” she asked.
“Get another sample ready, I’ll introduce a possible inhibitor just before you use the dispelling spell,” I said.
“Alright,” she replied and readied the sample.
I introduced the first cure and she used the spell. The anomalies released the blood cells and did the same as before, leaving hardly any blood cells left.
We tried several times into the night until Twilight was exhausted.
“One more time,” she huffed.
“It’s going to have to be, this is the last mix I have,” I said.
I introduced the last cure and she used the spell on it.
We watched as the abnormalities detached and coalesced again.
We lost hope, until they started to attack each other, neutralizing themselves.
“Yes!” Twilight exclaimed.
“Get some rest, I’ll prepare a full dose and then we can fix this,” I said.
“Alright,” she said, and flopped down in a chair.
I mixed up a dose and we went to the king’s chambers.
“Let us pass, we have a cure for the king,” I said before we even got to the door.
The guards opened the door and let us in.
The moon was full and illuminating the room, casting shadows along the floor as we walked over to the king.
“Mixer, thank you for that medicine earlier, it made me feel better,” he said.
“We have a cure for you,” I said.
“And who is this lovely mare?” he asked.
“This is Twilight Sparkle, she came here from Equestria,” I said.
“Well, it is nice to meet you miss Sparkle,” he said.
“Nice to meet you too your majesty,” Twilight said with a bow.
“She’s going to help me cure you,” I said.
“Very well, what is it?” he asked.
“Here’ drink this first,” I said.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“It will suppress the hostile bodies when Twilight uses the spell on you,” I said.
“What spell, pray tell, would that be?” he asked.
“A strong dispelling spell sir,” she said.
“Why would you need to do that?” he asked.
“Because, the affliction you have is partly magical, and if we were to simply use the spell on you without giving you the suppressant first, it could very well kill you,” I said.
“Well, what now?” he asked, after downing the cure.
“We have to wait for your body to metabolize the cure, so that it spreads throughout your body,” I said.
“Oh, that does sound unpleasant,” he said.
He talked with Twilight while we waited for the cure to metabolize.
“Alright, it should have metabolized now,” I said.
“Alright, get ready your highness,” Twilight said, preparing the spell.
“Go ahead,” he said, and Twilight used the spell on him.
At first nothing happened, then he started coughing violently.
“Your highness!” one of the guards called.
He keep coughing, holding his stomach.
“No, there must be something I missed,” I said.
“My stomach,” the king gasped in between coughs.
“Stand back!” the guard said.
Twilight backed away, but I stood fast, getting a sizeable crystal vessel ready.
“This might feel unpleasant,” I told the king as I magically induced vomiting.
The guard tackled me as the king vomited into the crystal vessel.
“You’re under arrest!” he said, forcing me on the ground.
The king vomited twice more then sat up straight. “Wait, let him go,” he said, wiping his face.
“Sir!” he said, holding me down.
“I hoped that would work,” I said.
“Thank you Mixer,” the king said, as the guard got off of me.
“Whoever did this wanted to make sure you died,” I said, noting the blob of grey goo in the crystal vessel.
I sealed it and set it aside.
“Do you know who could have done this?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t know who could have even come up with such an affliction, and built so many failsafes into it,” I said.
“And I don’t know who could have wanted me dead so badly,” the king said.
“It’s good to see that your strength is already returning,” I said.
“That illness was taxing, but I will recover. Now, get some sleep, I can see that you have been up all night,” he said.
“Yes, sir,” I said.
I followed Twilight to where the others had settled in.
“There is an extra room here for you,” she said.
“Thanks, I could probably find my old room ,but I would prefer to stay closer to all of you,” I said.
“Ok,” she said with a yawn.
“See you in the morning,” I said as she went into her room.
I went to the open room and dropped onto the bed, falling asleep instantly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was awakened the next morning by a knock on the door.
“Master Mixer, the king would like to see you,” a voice said.
I got up and went outside the room.
The others were not in their rooms and the servant was gone as well.
I went to the main hall to look for somepony to ask where the king was now.
I found the king talking with Luna in the dining hall after hearing them as I passed.
“That sound’s like Mixer,” the King laughed.
“You wanted to see me sir?” I asked.
“Ah Mixer, we were just talking about you,” he said.
“Yes, I was telling him about your formation of the Lunar guard,” Luna said.
“Really, a life oath, I didn’t expect that though,” the king said.
“Yes,” I said, my face reddening slightly.
“I wanted to thank you for curing me of that affliction,” he said.
“It was my duty,” I said.
“Still, thank you. And thank you for bringing with you such lovely ponies,” he said.
Luna blushed at this, “You are a great pony yourself,” she said.
“You are too kind Luna,” he said.
“So what did you want to see me about?” I asked.
“I wanted to talk to you about how you have been since I last saw you,” he said.
“That would take many hours,” I said.
“Thankfully, Luna has told me much of the important details, and I must say, I think you belong in Equestria,” he said.
“What?” I said, taken aback by this.
“You are doing so much good there, it would be wrong to keep you here. That and you have a life oath to fulfill,” he said.
“T-thank you,” I said.
“Now, the lab tech wanted to see you, I think they want autographs,” he said, chuckling as he added the last part.
“Ok,” I said, and left to attend to the lab.
--
Twilight and the others were taking in the sights of the palace when Mixer approached them.
“Oh good, I was hoping to find you around here,” he said.
“Oh Mixer, I thought you were going to see the king?” Silverwings asked.
“I did and he gave me a lead as to who could have made the king ill,” he said.
“Who?” she asked.
“Do you remember that lesser noble, Lucian?” he asked.
“The one who went and hid in his castle up north when the other nobles revolted?” she asked.
“Yes, the very one,” he said.
“What are we going to do about it?” she asked.
“You go and get the rest of your squad, I will take the rest of us and scout it out,” he said.
“Alright some action,” Rainbow Dash asked.
“How are we going to get there?” Twilight asked.
“there are a couple of carriages outside that will take us close, but we will have to go the rest of the way on hoof,” he said.
“What about Luna?” Trottson asked.
“We should bring her too, she might be able to help is infiltrate the castle,” he said.
“Ok, I’ll go get her,” Trottson said.
“Alright, the rest of you, let’s go and wait outside,” he said.
--
“Come on! You can’t really forgotten to clean up after yourselves,” I said to the lab technicians.
“Sorry, we didn’t want to disrupt your work,” one of them said.
“You should at least have know to keep it contained,” I said.
“Sorry we’ll get right on it,” another one said.
“See that you do,” I said and left.
The lab techs were suddenly acting like a bunch of foals.
I went to a window and looked out at the city. If I hadn't been looking down because of the lab tech stupidity I would have almost missed the four black carriages that were preparing to leave the front drive. The only thing that caught my eye about them was the fact that I was standing at the fist while Luna got in.
“OH BUCK NO!” I yelled and ran down to the front but they were gone by the time I got to the front.
“Quill where are those carriages going?” I jabbed the question at his as he walked outside.
“But you,” she started.
“Where?” I asked again, grabbing his neat suit.
“Who are you?” he questioned.
“Who took them?” I asked.
“Why you did,” he said.
“Where?” I growled.
“North, to Lucius’s castle,” he said.
“The little unicorn noble, whose sister runs a large estate?” I asked.
“Used to run,” he corrected me, “She died just before the noble rebellion.”
“Get me a carriage there now,” I said.
“Right away,” he said.
A carriage pulled up and I jumped on the seat next to the driver.
“Go! I don’t have time to waste with luxury right now,” I said.
“Right away,” he said.
We took off in hot pursuit of the carriage with the imposter and my friends.
--
“Ok, so here’s the plan,” the fake me said. “There is a side entrance to the castle that is lightly guarded. We can sneak in that entrance and make our way through the basement levels to the servant’s quarters, then from there to Lucius’s room where we can capture him.”
“That would be the only entrance we could use, the rest of this place is crawling with guards,” Trottson said.
That is why Luna can hide us in the shadows while we get close,” the imposter said.
“Then let’s go,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Are you ready?” Luna asked.
“Yes,” all of them said.
She enveloped them in a dark mist and they moved swiftly to the planned entrance.
They took out the two guards that were stationed there and went inside.
When they went inside they followed a hallway until they entered a large room with two floors and a doorway opposite the one they came in.
There was a bright flash and when they recovered there was a charcoal grey unicorn with a jet black mane standing on the second floor.
“Lucius!” the false me snapped.
“No, that isn’t the real Mixer,” the charcoal stallion said. “Lucius used a body swap spell on me so that he could bring you all here and trap you.”
“Lies!” the fake me said.
“Don’t believe me? Check his neck, he isn't wearing my seed crystal pendent,” the stallion said.
“He’s right,” Ivy said.
“That’s something I would not forget in carelessness,” Lucius said.
The false me teleported away as the other closed in on him.
“Trottson you and the Lunar guard stay here and stop any guards that try to stop us, we’ll go in further to find proof of Lucius’ treachery,” Mixer/Lucius said, as he jumped down.
“Alright,” he said as the eight of them took defensive positions around the room.
“Let’s go,” Mixer/Lucius said.
--
I fought through a patrol of guards, using a pair of crystals to parry their weapons while I delivered stunning punches to each of them.
When all of them were moaning on the ground I went through the door they were guarding.
When I went to the end of the hall I saw the Lunar guard all facing the hallway with scowls on their faces.
“Thank goodness you’re all o,” I was cut off mid sentence as Brick charged me and I sidestepped him.
“What was that abou-” I tried to ask but had to roll onto my back to deflect Phalanx.
“I’ll stop trying to ask now,” I said as Brick came charging back.
I sidestepped him again and sent him crashing into a wall.
Star Shine and Rose came at me next, Rose trying to land vicious hits on me while Star Shine pummeled me.
I grabbed one of Star’s punches and swung him around, flinging him and Rose away.
Thunderlane was next to jump in, trying to get around me to land a few kicks and punches where I couldn’t block.
I set him off balance with my magic and pullen on his extended leg, flooring him just in time to avoid a dive by Trottson.
As I got some distance between me and Thunderlane, Trottson and Phalanxed tried to pincer me between the two of them diving at me.
I ducked at the last second, giving each of them a tug with magic so that they would crash into each other.
“Sorry,” I said as I stepped away from the pile of ponies and feathers.
I wasn’t watching and Ivy clocked me in the back of the head, which wouldn’t have been an issue had I been wearing my armor.
I spun around after I recovered and met her gaze.
I was almost so transfixed by her bright green eyes that I almost didn't hear Brick charging me from behind.
I didn’t even turn around, I simply waited until he was close enough and I did a backflip, my muscles complaining at the sudden acrobatic act.
I landed on Brick’s broad shoulders and brought my front hoof against his helmet.
It made a resounding ring, but Brick didn't falter, instead throwing me off and sliding right under Ivy.
I cracked a smile, the irony amusing given the current situation, before I barely dodged her stomping hoof.
I grabbed her leg and rolled her over, ending up on top of her.
She kept the momentum going and we rolled a few more times before she ended up on top and I used all four of my legs to throw her at Brick.
I made sure that Brick fell over when he caught Ivy by pushing him with magic before bolting for the far door before they could recover.
I slammed the door shut and evaluated my injuries as I ran down the hall.
Aside from a nasty bump on my head from Ivy I only had some minor bruises.
I came to another door and opened it, only to be greeted by Rainbow Dash tackling me.
“Nice to see you too Dashie,” I said as I wrestled free from her grip.
The mane six were all standing like they were ready to fight, all except Fluttershy, who sat back, and Rarity, who was more off the the side, ready to give support instead of fighting.
RD got up and flew back to join her friends.
After a few second stare down during which I decided whether I should try and ask them what was happening, I realized that I no longer had my seed crystal.
When I flinched, RD went for a dive, on that I prepared to meet on my back legs.
Before she impacted a masterfully thrown lasso fell over my head and secured itself around my back legs.
Rainbow smiled as Applejack gave a tug and I fell flat on my back.
“Not so tough now are you Lucius,” she said.
I used my magic to pull on the rope, pulling Applejack to the ground and using it to toss Rainbow Dash towards a nearby wall.
I winced as a ring was jammed on my horn and I felt the rope slacken.
It was promptly followed by being held upside down by Twilight.
That should put a stop to that,” Twilight said, as Applejack and Pinkie got closer to me.
“Oh, he looks like a piñata,” Pinkie said, materializing a stick from behind her back.
Applejack stayed clear while Pinkie got ready to swing.
Not accounting that I had my forehooves free she swung the stick, which I promptly caught and pulled her closer with.
I could feel Twilight pulling the stick out of my grasp, but that wasn't my intention in the first place, I instead grabbed Pinkie and tossed her at Rainbow Dash, who was just recovering from hitting the wall.
I felt a lurch as I dropped lower, followed by a sharp pain in the side of my head as my brains were scrambled by a good old fashioned Apple family buck.
I went limp and I heard Twilight say, “I think you might have overdone it,” to Applejack, over the ringing in my ears.
“Nah, he’s fine,” she said, poking giving me a push and letting me swing by the rope that Twilight was still holding up.
“I think you can put him down now,” Rarity said.
I felt the solid ground as I was let down.
“We should take him to Mixer, maybe him and Luna have found that evidence they were talkin about,” Applejack said.
Twilight, Applejack and Rarity were all distracted by their conversation so that they didn’t notice when I slipped the ring of my horn and untied the rope from my legs with magic.
“Hey, wait a second,” Applejack said as she noticed what I was doing.
She didn’t have time to finish as I sent the ring hard onto Twilight’s horn and tied the three of them together, before sending them into Pinkie and Rainbow Dash.
I staggered to my feet and headed towards the door, Fluttershy sitting in my way, shaking.
“Um, please stop,” she said, covering her face as I neared her.
I would have stopped anyways, but my addled head made me stop and sit, then lay down, in front of her.
“Look, Fluttershy stopped him,” Pinkie said, the rest of them struggling with the tangle of rope and ponies.
“Um, thank you,” Fluttershy said.
I struggled back to my feet and moved around her, moving through the slightly open door behind her.
Fluttershy came walking after me as I staggered through the passage.
“Could you please stop, if that’s ok with you I mean,” she asked.
“I’m sorry Fluttershy, but I can’t stop yet,” I said, panting.
I kept going for a bit, her hoovesteps behind me until I finally stopped and leaned against the wall.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“For what?” she asked, sitting down next to me.
“For not being strong enough to stop this,” I said.
I heard hoovesteps from down the passage.
“Oh Mixer it is you,” she said.
“Yes, but I can’t fight now, not after that kick,” I said, holding the side of my head.
“There he is!” I heard Rainbow Dash call.
“Now he has Luna, and all of us here, and I can’t even stop him,” I said, tears starting to form in my eyes.
She leaned over and gave me a hug, “Don't worry, you don't have to fight anymore, we’ll fight for you,” she said.
“Fluttershy? What are you doing?” Twilight asked.
“Helping Mixer,” she said.
“By hugging Lucius?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“This is the real Mixer, the other is Lucius,” Fluttershy said.
“Are you sure, because when Mixer lead us here the first time her was a fake, the missing pendant gave us proof,” Twilight said.
“And this one is missing the pendent as well,” Rarity said.
“No he isn’t” Ivy said, rushing down the hall with the rest of the Lunar guard.
“Ivy! What happened?” Twilight asked.
“We fought Mixer, and I took this from him,” she said, holding up my seed crystal.
“You sly little filly,” I said.
“You taught me to think on my hooves,” she said.
“So I did,” I said.
“I’m sorry I don’t have anything to patch you up with, I used what I had on the others,” she said.
“So what now?” Trottson asked.
“We stop Lucius,” Fluttershy said.
“Here, let me help you,” Brick said, hoisting me onto his back.
“And here, take this back,” Ivy said, handing me the pendent.
I put it on and adjusted myself to be more comfortable on Brick’s back.
“Let’s go,” Fluttershy said.
“When did you become so brave?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“When you needed me to be,” she said and led the way onward.
When we entered the next room Lucius and Luna were standing at the top of a set of wooden stairs the ended at a small platform before a large door.
“Good, you captured him,” Lucius said.
“Quiet imposter!” Fluttershy said, her words biting.
“What?” he asked.
Fluttershy flew up to him and got in his face, “You tricked us into fighting our friends you rotten trickster, and I will not let you get away with hurting my friends!”
“Silly filly, I already have,” he said as he zapped Fluttershy with a bolt of magic and sent a cage dropping down on Luna.
“FLUTTERSHY!” I yelled, and caught her with magic.
“Now, you will all taste that same power,” he said as small rods poked up through the floor, and current flowed through them.
The Lunar guard were all big magnets to the electricity, the tendrils arcing to their armor first. Then it arced from their armor and horns to Twilight and Rarity, before arcing through the rest.
“LUCIUS!” I roared, feeling the electricity jolting through me from Bricks armor.
The others started collapsing from the electricity, coats singed and horns smoking.
When the electricity stopped flowing Bricks legs gave way and I tumbled onto the ground.
Lucius gave an evil laugh, “You can’t stop me,” he said smugly.
“No, but I can!” Silverwing said, bursting in with her squad.
“You were supposed to be delayed,” he said.
“You can’t delay orders from the king,” she said as she dove at him.
“I’m tired of your meddling, DIE!” he shouted as he sent a bolt of electricity charging towards her.
She rolled and the bolt passed by her with almost no clearance.
She broke off from him and two more of her squad mates started pestering him.
The other three tried to lift the cage from Luna while he was distracted.
“No you don’t,” he said and prepared to unleash a bolt at the three of them.
“No,” Silverwing said as she grabbed him from behind, putting him in a headlock and causing him to miss.
“This is the last time you will meddle with me!” Lucius said as he fired electricity backwards through Silverwing.
She screamed as the electricity flowed through her and small bolts flew from her wingtips, burning them.
She went limp and fell off of him.
“Silverwing!” I shouted, watching her slump to the ground.
I created a crystal and aimed it a Lucius, but he saw me and reactivated the floor pylons and I dropped the projectile.
After being satisfied that I could not get back up he turned to deal with the rest of silver squadron.
I levitated my seed crystal and moved it over to Luna who was trying to break the cage, but finding no success as it was impervious to magic.
She stopped when when saw the small crystal levitate in front of her.
I spun it around, trying to show her that she could use it to cut through the bars.
She cut two of the bars and was able to slip out.
She transformed into Nightmare Moon and roared in the royal canterlot voice, “NOW I SHALL SHOW YOU THE TRUE MEANING OF FEAR!”
He screamed as she fell upon him, transforming into a dark miasma.
When she returned to her solid form, Lucius was curled up in the fetal position, his eyes wide with terror.
She transformed back to her normal form and she went to check on all of us.
As I looked around I saw the singed forms of all my friends, and the still form of Silverwing and I gave a cry to the heavens before collapsing into darkness.

I awoke in a hospital bed, my body aching and my head throbbing. I could hear the sound of a heart monitor beeping, then I closed my eyes and escaped back into the darkness.

I don’t know how long I slept but when I woke again, the room was softly lit with a lamp next to me.
“You’re awake,” I heard a female voice say.
“You shouldn’t try to move, you’ve been through alot,” another soothing voice said.
“Where am I?” I asked weakly.
“You’re in Trottingham Hospital,” one of the nurses said.
“Your friends brought the two of you here a day or two ago,” the other said.
“The two of us?” I asked.
“Yes, your friend was in pretty bad shape,” one of them said.
“Who?” I asked, worried.
“Her,” the nurse said, pointing to the bed next to me.
I turned and saw Silverwing laying in the bed next to me, her wings bandaged and set against her body.
“She’s stable but she hasn’t woken up yet, and the doctor says that she might not be able to fly again,” one of the nurses said.
I fell back into the bed. I couldn’t believe it, she was alive, they all were!
“Mixer?” I heard Silverwing say, her voice shaking.
“Silverwing, are you ok?” I asked.
“She gave a weak smile, “I’m glad we came to save you in time,” she said, then she put her head back.
“Silverwing,” I said worried.
“Don’t worry, I won’t leave you,” she said.
“I’ll hold you to that,” I said, doing the same and placing my head back on the pillow.
I fell back asleep again and woke up sometime during the next day.

There was no sign of the nurses and a window was open, letting in the midday sun’s rays.
“Oh, you’re awake,” Silverwing said.
I looked over and saw that she was sitting up, a bandage on her head.
“You too,” I said, sitting up myself.
“So where are we?” she asked.
“The nurses said that we were in the Trottingham hospital,” I said.
“So that’s where we are,” she said.
“Where is Trottingham exactly?” I asked.
“North of New Pegisopolis, a small settlement, though one of the larger ones,” she said.
“Well, they seem to have good medical care,” I said.
“Yeah, they do,” she said.
A knock came to the door and a nurse came in holding a letter.
“This came in the mail for you, it’s addressed to Mixer,” she said.
I took the letter and opened it.

Dear Mixer,
Mixer, you and Silverwing were in critical condition so we left you in Trottingham to recover. All of us are fine, just a few bruises and some singed fur but nothing serious. We have returned to New Pegisopolis to continue with talking to the king about what we will do next.
Get well soon,
Princess Luna

“Well, at least they wrote,” I said.
“What does it say?” Silverwing asked.
“Here take a look,” I said, passing the letter.
She took it and read it over.
“I hope that nothing else goes wrong,” she said.
“Don't jinx it,” I said jokingly.
“I’m starving,” she said as her stomach growled.
“Me too,” I said.
The nurse left and came back with two plates of hospital food.
“It’s better than rumors say it is,” I said.
“Better than standard rations,” Silverwing said digging in.
We ate then slept more, having nothing better to do.
I had pleasant dreams that night, better than any I’d had in awhile.