I thought I knew a lot of colorful words but you haven’t heard anything until you hear an Apple family member get on a roll with their mouth practically on fire. Once she was able to drown out the burning though and give her opinion she agreed to try and grow a couple trees to experiment with, one of each being on my property for discovering them. Of course I had forgotten about Pinkie’s tolerance to hot things so the fire apples didn’t really affect her much but she did still like them. Finding a place for the trees on my property was easy, and with a bit of planning I had them far enough away from each other to hang a hammock between them once they got big enough.
Not long after waving them off as they went back to town I found that the Crusaders had found my little cloud experiment. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were both resting atop it while both Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo were trying to do the same but kept falling through. I sat there for a good while watching this before I burst out laughing at their antics. Needless to say the two pegasi weren’t happy about that and thought this was all some elaborate prank on them. It didn’t take long to explain what I was doing with the cloud, though using it as a prank would have been a good idea.
Things did calm down for a bit after the recent crisis which gave me time to think more on what I found as well as what Twilight found near the castle. A quick trip out there didn’t reveal much beyond the tree itself. In fact the most interesting thing about that day was watching Pinkie Pie ringing the school bell with her head. I have no idea why she was ringing it like that but I knew thinking too hard about it would be a bad thing.
I decided to leave the research on the tree to Twilight since she was more closely connected to it, and I had a feeling that showing the obelisk to anyone else wouldn’t be a good idea. Since showing it off was out then that left me with only a single clue to follow which was the name of the kingdom, Sionnach. Neither library I have easy access to had any information on it, though I wasn’t expecting much considering how old the magic in that clearing felt. While the Canterlot library may have something about it I was willing to bet it would be in a restricted area that only Luna and Celestia would have access to considering the solar rulers reaction to me.
That left only two options available to me to find any information on this curiosity. Either search through the Everfree even more until I managed to find something else linked to it, or go to some experts on ancient history. I wrote to a few museums to try and find information on any archaeologists that specialize in ancient and forgotten history and was able to get a short list of names from the ones I contacted. I spent some time at the library doing a little bit of research on their accomplishments, though I was forced to stop and reread the last name on one of the lists.
Professor D. Do? That can’t be who I think it is, can it? I look over at a nearby shelf as I ponder this, looking at the rows of Daring Do books that are there. Looking between the page in front of me and the books I wonder if it’s just a coincidence that the names match like that or if it’s really her. I had read a few of the books myself, and while not an avid fan as Rainbow Dash and Twilight, I did find some enjoyment in them. If they were the same pony then I could potentially use some of the information in them myself if I ever happened upon some hidden temple in the Everfree.
Since I could guess how Twilight would react if I mentioned this connection to her I decided to keep it a secret for now. Of course upon finding her name it pretty much made me rule out all of the other names on the list as, if it truly was her, she would be both an expert on ancient civilizations and somewhat of an expert on ancient magical artifacts. While I wouldn’t mention the obelisk itself, the timberwolves that were guarding it are a remarkable enough find that it wouldn’t give anything away on what I found.
I take a moment to compose myself on what I want to say in the letter to her. I decide to keep it as professional as I could just so I am hopefully taken somewhat seriously since if it really is her she’s hiding her name behind the author’s name for a reason.
Dear Professor D. Do,
You may not have heard of me but I am a novice explorer that is currently mapping out the Everfree Forest when I have time away from my other tasks. On my most recent journey I found some old ruins that appeared to be from some ancient civilization by the name of Sionnach. Other than the name of the kingdom itself I also discovered what appeared to be timberwolves that pre-date the Discord era as they were not at all like the ones currently found today and were free of any chaotic corruption. While I know you are busy with your own work if you have any information that could be of use to me it would be much appreciated. I ask this as you are one of the lead archaeologists of ancient ruins and civilizations and you may have come across something from this one before.
Signed,
Flarenza
Ogitsu Manor
Ponyville, Equestria
I do a quick read through of the letter again before sealing it up to be sent out. As I am heading out I run into Derpy as she is dropping off some packages to the library. “Ahh, just the mailmare I wanted to see. I just finished a letter that I needed to send out.” I hand over the letter and the bits to cover the delivery cost and was about to go on my way when she spoke up. “Hey, I didn’t know you knew my cousin.”
I pause for a second before turning back to her. “You’re related to Professor Do? I didn’t know that, I just found her name while I was doing some research and decided to ask for some help.” Derpy nods at this. “Yep, my real name is Ditzy Doo, but everypony just calls me by my nickname. Well I’ll be sure this gets sent out there but I have more deliveries to do first, see ya.” I just shake my head as I watch her fly off wondering what the odds are of not only finding out about Daring Do possibly being real, but also meeting a relative in the same day.
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The next few months I wasn’t able to turn up any other leads on what I found though I did find out that Twilight and Rainbow Dash learned that Daring Do was actually real. It wasn’t hard to find this out when the newest book that came out happened to have Rainbow Dash on the cover and bringing it up was all it took for her to start bragging. Of course I still didn’t mention Derpy’s connection to her since it wasn’t my secret to give out. Of course Twilight was surprised that I knew about her though pointing out how and why I found out caught her interest. Luckily her plans to clean up the castle ruins a bit distracted her enough that I was able to keep the obelisk a secret for now.
Around that time I was also helping out Selene a bit with a class competition for the Equestria Games that was coming up. She was paired with two other fillies from her class of which one I was surprised to find was Derpy’s foal. I didn’t know what they were looking to do exactly but I still provided as much material support as I could. I probably would have done more but I was distracted by something that I was hoping was nothing. While Trixie had been sending letters to keep me updated on how things have been going they suddenly stopped after leaving from Manehattan. I really did hope it was just a problem with the mail service, but anything could have happened on the road between towns.
It was around the middle of fall after Applejack finished dealing with some vampire fruit bat problem that I saw the first sign of trouble. It was late at night when the wards on the border of my property woke me from my sleep to the presence of intruders. I would have shrugged it off as the Crusaders or one of my friends, but a quick check revealed that they weren’t ponies that were approaching but they did feel familiar for some reason. Hmm, I think they are heading directly here and not to the town for some reason. I better head down and greet them, though it doesn’t mean I can’t have a bit of fun since I didn’t invite anyone.
With a grin I crawl out of bed and start to head downstairs, first making sure to put up some barriers on all the occupied rooms as well as a sound muffling spell as a precaution. Now that I was fully awake I noticed that whoever or whatever it was that was approaching they were coming in from the Everfree Forest side. The also seemed to be flying in so I blocked all the windows just in case so that the only way in was through the front door. Once that was done I climbed the wall above the door and sat waiting for the visitors to arrive.
I was glad that I had taken precautions though when I felt the intruders trying to get in through one of the upper windows. I debated going out to meet them but once they found that they couldn’t get in through the windows they gathered around the front door. With how close they were to the door I was able to strain my hearing a bit to catch a little of what they were saying.
“You sure this is the right place anyways? There was nothing in that journal about it being sealed up like this.” I frown at this, curious about what journal they mean. “Of course I’m sure, there are only two places outside of Ponyville and this is the only one that is like what was described.” My eyes shoot open on hearing this voice as it was one I definitely recognize, though usually it would be screaming. Well, well, well. It’s good old Citrine Eyes again. So that’s why they felt familiar, I hadn’t been near any changelings in a while so I forgot about how greasy their presence felt.
Now knowing what I was up against I started to grin as I plot at what to do to them this time. I use my magic to draw more shadows around the area above the door so that only a glow in my eyes showing. Soon enough the changelings open the door and sneak their way inside looking in every direction but one. It’s odd how only griffons and pegasi seem to look up for trouble as well as around them. I would think changelings would do the same since they also fly, but I guess them often being found in underground areas would dampen that instinct.
Since I didn’t want them to get to far in I tried to subtly get the attention of the orange-eyed one by trying to direct my joy at him. I must have done something right as his head jerked around and upwards to stare right into the glowing flames of my eyes. At the sight of them he completely froze in place, and if he had pupils they would probably be pinpricks by now. With his attention on me now I close my eyes and cast another spell to go invisible and dash to another part of the room.
His two partners soon notice him frozen in place and try to knock him out of his shock. “Come on, what’s with you all of a sudden now? I thought you had gotten over your problems of panicking at nothing. If you keep flooding the hive link with it they’ll cut you off.” This catches my attention as it actually confirms the presence of some sort of link between changelings. Considering that these three seem to retain some sense of individuality it must not be a complete link but it’s enough to communicate with.
Taking this into account I tune into the hearth stone and start adding layers of spells to try and block that sort of communication. I hit on something after a few tries as I see the heads of the two calmer changelings jerk upright in shock while Citrine Eyes completely breaks down. “Nononononono! It’s here, it’s HERE! It’s gonna get me again, please don’t let it get me!” I’m a bit surprised at how badly he’s reacting as I didn’t think I did anything that bad to him before. Still I can see the fear slowly spread to the other two as they take positions to guard each other’s backs while standing over the third. Of course it wasn’t going to stop me from trying some new things out as there wasn’t much information on what would work on changelings.
I started up with what I showed Trixie on her first visit here by bringing up the illusion of darkness and a giant dragon in front of them. Its appearance confused them at first and almost sent them running, but they quickly noticed something about it and just ignored it. I watched in confusion for a second, wondering why they barely reacted to such a high level illusion, when suddenly one whipped its head around and shot a bolt of green energy directly at me even though I was still invisible.
I threw up a quick shield to block the bolt from doing any damage and dashed around the room to somewhere else. The changeling seemed to lose track of me when I did that and I tried to reason out why. It didn’t take me long to remember that these things fed off of emotions so it would make sense that they could feel emotions as well. Since the illusion was made to trick only the other senses and not emotions it made sense that they would see through it easily.
After realizing that, it was easier to avoid them as I suppressed my emotions like I would when fighting undead. This threw them off as I vanished completely from their senses which made the downed one panic even more and bolt out of the house. Wince I didn’t want to deal with any damage to my home I put up a special kind of shield around the two of them and then revealed myself in front of them.
This got the reaction I was expecting as it tried to blast me, but instead of hitting me the energy bolt bounced off the shield surrounding it and slammed right back into its face. The second changeling, feeling its compatriot fall, whirled around and repeated the mistake of the other. With both of them down for the count I turned my attention to the third and was surprised to find that it was no longer within the borders of my influence. “Wow. I think that changeling could give Rainbow Dash a challenge when it comes to speed right now.”
Seeing as I had easy access to a guard I made sure that the two would stay unconscious for a good long while and went to wake Umbra up. She was surprised at the sight of the two changelings and sent a message to Princess Luna to send guards to collect them. While we waited for them to arrive I fashioned a pair of rings for their horns and, using a couple smaller gems, enchanted them to not only block their magic but also their connection to the hive. While it was still theoretical that it would work it would still be better than nothing as them getting word back home would be a bad thing.
Princess Luna and a squad of her Lunar Guard arrived to take the two in to custody within the hour. After letting me know that they would tell me if they find anything out they flew back to Canterlot under the cover of night while I went back to sleep. Their words when they were outside my home still bugged me a bit so over the next few days I practiced some ways to empower my illusions with emotions just on the chance of needing that kind of spell sometime. I had plenty of time to practice the spells since I was keeping an eye on the Crusaders while Rarity took her friends to Manehattan for some fashion show.
When they returned I got a message through Pinkie Pie that Trixie had returned to town and was arguing with Twilight again for some reason. This caught my attention as I wanted to find out why her letters had stopped so I made my way into town quickly. She and Twilight were both arguing as I was told but I noticed something else was off right away. As I approached I threw up a shield around Trixie which caused Twilight to look over at me in surprise. “Flarenza, what are you doing?” At my name Trixie looks over at me in surprise and with a little bit of fear I noticed. “Oh nothing much Twilight, just making sure the changeling doesn’t run away or contact the rest of the hive.”