Hey I’m back. What why you so mad at me? Yeah, I know I left it on a cliffhanger, but it was for good reason. I mean, even if you’re a corpse I got to keep you here somehow.
I needed to go find some lunch anyway. Stop yelling at me, I wanted to actually eat something besides mana food. That stuff has like no taste and my bag doesn’t really do well at keeping food intact.
Now where was I? Oh yeah, I was getting pushed into that slot.
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The sensation was really strange, my vision range was crunched down a bit, but I could see more magical properties. I wouldn’t even be able to begin to describe how it looked. Qira’s arms and legs or rather mine for now, I could feel them even though they are not attached. The most important thing I noticed was that energy was flowing into the form. While it was going in at a slower rate than my true body, it was probably enough for me to actually perform some basic spells and not run out, such as a fireball.
I heard Midnight say something, but I couldn’t understand her. This is why I asked for the arcanite, it is a strong crystal and very good at holding magical things. I lifted the thing up and focused my energy into it, enough to leave a trace in it, but not any further. I felt a small sense of loss when I cut off the energy, but there is a sensation that the crystal is a part of me. With that done, I start over to my friend, only to end up stumbling and near falling to the ground. It was kind of hard to walk on legs that aren’t exactly attached to your body, but at least Midnight caught my fall. She seems rather protective suddenly and I have no idea why. Maybe it was because something about possibly failing at being a guard before?
The mare said something, probably asking if I was alright. Well I would answer “no” I lost my body, have to be in a strange one that doesn’t need to eat, sleep, and whatever else in the world Qira didn’t have to do. It wasn’t really that I don’t have to do those things that bothered me; it was that I probably couldn’t do those things. On top of those things, that demon or whatever was doing who knows what with my body. It better not break my scope, I love that thing. If I find that thing broken, I would probably go berserk like one of those rage obsessed warriors. Those guys really should calm down and take a breather, maybe ride a raptor that didn’t have venom right underneath its skin. I did that once and let me tell you, never ever again. I couldn’t sit down for a week after that. It was worse than getting turned into a trogg that one time, especially since that was only for like five minutes. That gnome said it was an ultra-safe teleporter, how was that safe at all? Although danger didn’t stop that didn’t stop that Leroy guy from running into a room full of mature dragon eggs. Those people probably would’ve made it if that didn’t happen.
“Korrxx?” Midnight’s comprehensible voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
I looked up at her, sadly I’m like 4 more inches shorter than I was before, and saw that she grabbed the gem I was holding. How do they hold anything with hooves? I have no stinking clue. Hands are so much better because they make actual sense. I will not say magic and leave it there because magic isn’t like that last time I checked. I should know, I check that fact a lot. So with those ideas backing me up, I ask “How you hold anything with those hooves?”
Instead of a crazy answer, or an intellectual one, all I got was “I don’t know, I never really thought about it.”
“Well… at least you admit it. I can’t tell you how many times I just get an answer like ‘magic’. I’m a specialized mage and an engineer. I like knowing how these things work so I can craft better stuff, I’m tired of being broke” I say.
“I thought you said you weren’t broke before” Midnight said.
“Umm did I say that? I meant… I just don’t have much money at all… I lost my life savings just to end up getting shoved into slavery, well that was his plan. I gota thank the alliance for getting me out of that ship, even if it almost killed me. What did Thrall do when we finally caught up to Gallywix? He just gave him a freaking slap on the wrist and let him remain our leader. Well no way I was going to stand with that. I just went solo after that point.” I glanced down to the gem in the guard’s hoof. “I think I got something so you don’t have to hold that all the time.”
I went digging into my bag to see if I can find my old wrist bracer. Again, this limb was really weird. I could feel with it, but the sensation was a bit numb compared to what I was used to and… ahah there it is. I pulled it out with a simple levitate spell, the old bracer and examined it. To be honest, it was more like a wide bracelet than a bracer. I popped out the yellow gem in the socket and inserted the glowing arcanite gem in. It was a tight fit, but that was a good thing, don’t want it coming out do we?
Without giving a warning, I clasp the bracer around Midnight’s right foreleg and for whatever reason, the mare started blushing… through fur. How she do that? This makes less sense than the hoof thing. Then Twilight pony commented on something and… wow I totally forgot about her didn’t I? Well she does creep me out with those eyes, I mean I once saw a giant eyeball in my dream and it wasn’t that creepy. Well the giant eye was more disturbing and horrifying, especially that I later learned that it was something really bad. That was the last time I slept in that bed and house cause I burned it down in a panic. Well anyhow, that comment got Midnight blushing even harder.
Why does a simple bracer, that was more like a bracelet, with a gem in it cause so much blushing…oh… oooh…Oh boy…I should’ve thought this through. Well not like the mare is ugly or anything, but uhh… aw crap. You better not be watching this ex! You back stabbed me and tried to kill me like 3 times, so I killed you and asked a priest to smite your ghost when you haunted me. Uh whoops I got carried away there. So yeah, I couldn’t handle another relationship even if Midnight is able to look past my…randomness.
“So… How are we going to find my body?” I ask.
“Firstly, we are going back to Canterlot to address the problem to my captain and we will go from there.” Midnight says, dropping back into the guard attitude I know. “Since I can fly there faster than the train” she lowers herself to the floor, “get on.”
“Wait what? You want me to ride you? I umm…if say so.” I, as carefully I could with unfamiliar limbs and body, got onto Midnight’s back.
The guard stands back up and I hugged around her neck to keep myself in place. She waved a goodbye with that knowledge pit- I mean unicorn, went up those stairs and left the tree. If there was one thing I noticed on our way out, it was that there was a lot of books in that place, like a library or something. Though it couldn’t be, what kind of creep lives in a library?
“Are you ready Flame Keeper?” the guard unfolds her wings and turns her head enough to look at me.
“Wait just a moment, why do you use my title? Not that I don’t like my title, but near no one that even knows it does.” That title was basically forfeited because my home island where I was that keeper, was destroyed, but I’m not about to say that. How many can call themselves Flame Keeper insert name here, the Insane?
“You earned the title. Why shouldn’t it be used?”
“Well…you’re my friend! My momma always told me to keep formalies away from the friends with as much effort as we should with keeping the gnomes away from our rockets, if there were any at the island I should add. She said some other things with that, but I’m going to keep that out of this.” I would give this blue mare a friendly pat, but I was already hugging her neck, so it wasn’t really needed.
Midnight seems to relax with my words, but her wings tenses up again. “Hold on tight and please, please don’t distract me. I’ll hold a conversation if you want, but only small talk,. I need to be able to focus on flying.”
With a strong flap of her wings, we started to lift off and move towards the mountain with a city hanging off the side of it. Did I not mention that before? Well, because I already seen a floating city, what difference does a city hanging off the side of a mountain make? Still would need some powerful enchantments to keep half the place from collapsing and killing half of the beings in and below the place.
The flight so far has been rather calming, the view of the area was nice. An area with rolling hills, mountainous regions, a peaceful forest, and a spooky forest that reminds me a little of Ashenville, except a bit more overgrown, spooky, and corrupted looking. I’m… I’m going to stay away from that place, no way I gota go in there later right?
I realized that I never ridden a flying being bareback, or one at all (flying masterpieces for me, all the way). That thought made me hold on to Midnight tighter. I shift my vision to behind us, a sentry’s vision was not fix forward as I once thought, my eye-err… vision saw sort of marking on her flank. It was like some sort of dark cloud with lightning bolts coming out of it in all directions.
“Midnight?” I say.
“What is it Korrxx?” she replied
“Why do you have a mark on your flank?”
“You just now noticed this?” She seems genuinely surprised. “Well, all ponies eventually get a mark when they discovered their talent; and no, it isn’t necessarily our only talent. Since I know you’re going to ask, mine represent my ability to create storms. I don’t really do it all that much anymore since I joined the guards, sadly.”
“So umm… you change your name when you found out your talent or something? I mean, don’t get me wrong, nothing’s wrong with changing your name. I just see titles use as a substitute more often at home, crazy titles been given I’ll tell ya. I heard about this one title, a very long one at that, called ‘Slayer of Stupid, Incompetent, and Disappointing Minions.’” I paused a moment. “I think that insane dragon’s that caused the volcano on my home island go boom, son gave that-”
“I never changed my name; it is just that most ponies names ends up being similar to their talents, normally. Don’t ask me how that ends up being like that, I wonder that myself.”
Midnight starts to slow down and I see her heading for some random cloud. What? What is so interesting about a cloud? Then… she just lands on it… Mind blown, reset needed. Reboot complete, confirmation of what happened required. I look down again to see that she indeed is standing on the clouds, her wings folding up.
“How on Azeroth you do that? I didn’t see you cast any spells, and I never heard or seen a cloud walking spell. Though I can believe those being possible, but you didn’t cast anything!” I yell.
The mare sighs and shakes her head softly. “Are you going to question everything that you never seen before? If I didn’t already know you a little, I’d mistake you for Twilight based on what I heard of her before. She is so eager to learn anything she can…” Midnight informed.
“I don’t try to learn everything! I like to know some things about magic, fire based especially; also, when it comes to engineering, I’m a pro. I’ll even tell you what I have on my work in progress list.” I lower my voice to a whisper to be sure that no one else hears it, though I was not even sure where the sound comes from in this body. “I’m working on a shredder that can fly. It will be my next best creation; and if I can sell it, I’ll finally have good money again.”
“Korrxx, you need to keep your mind on the task at hoof. You know this thing more than anypony; think about what it would do.” The guard extended her wings back out. “Hold on tight, this might be a bit more… extreme.”
“Wait, what?” My confusion was answered with Midnight jumping off the cloud and entering into a sharp descent.