Evergreen, Everfree
They spent the whole night watching the rest of Season 4. Much to Statice’s surprise, he found the adventures that Twilight and her friends had amusing. Sure, they may have done some stupid things that either caused them trouble or made things worse, but they always managed to solve them. Every chapter that Discord showed him always ended up in a happy ending, much like the other three “seasons” that the draconequus had shown him the day he met him.
By the next day, it was time to leave, but now Statice had a problem. He had to find a place on which to stay. He couldn’t go back to Canterlot or go to Ponyville for obvious reasons. He needed to plan his next move perfectly.
Focusing his magic on his horn, a virtual map of Equestria appeared in front of him. A green dot that marked his location was resting in Canterlot. At least four cities in the map were covered with red crosses. All of those crosses were places on which Statice was probably not welcome anymore.
“What are you planning on doing, Statice?” Discord asked as he turned into a small serpent and wrapped himself around the stallion’s body.
“I’m trying to see where I should move next,” Statice focused his eyes on the map. “I guess I should give Canterlot a cross since there is zero chances of me ever being welcomed there after my encounter with Blueblood.”
“Maybe if you sit on your haunches and beg you may be given a second chance,” Discord suggested with raised eyebrows.
Statice gave him a dour look. “What makes you think that Celestia is going to forgive me so easily after attacking her nephew, acting disrespectful on my trial, escaping, and engaging her guards and the Elements of Harmony in combat during said escape attempt?”
Discord snorted at the question. “Dear boy, I did worse than that and here I am. She had lots of reasons to hate me and yet she still gave me a second chance.”
Statice thought about it. Celestia may have colossal patience if she was willing to forgive her greatest enemy for his past transgressions. She even wore the Element of Kindness during her early days. Maybe if he gave an explanation…
“No,” Statice shook his head. “I already messed things up in Canterlot.”
He slammed the hoof on the virtual map of Equestria, not even bothering to put a cross mark on Canterlot. The map turned into a green spot, revealing a blue screen that contained small purple squares at the center. Discord’s eyes lit up when the green spot entered into one of the squares that was labeled as “Locations” and he promptly popped next to the unicorn’s side, back to his original appearance.
“That was an interesting spell, Statice,” Discord eyed the screen, reading the labels on each book. “May I see what’s inside those boxes on the screen?”
“Why should I?” Statice asked a little aggressively. He knew that he couldn’t take Discord head-on, but it was still his spell. He didn’t want him to fidget with it if he could do something about it.
“I can poke on the screen with my magic and find out,” Discord threatened as he wiggled his fingers evilly.
“It’s my Archive Spell,” Statice admitted in defeat. “I use it to collect information and store it for later use.”
“Was that so hard?” Discord rubbed Statice’s head before looking at the squares again. “Now then, can you give me a tour in your Archive?”
“Might as well,” Statice sighed as he pointed at each square. “The Locations square has maps to every land I visited and each land has smaller lands for towns and cities. The Spells square gives two lists of spells, the first one is for the spells that I learned and the second one is for the original spells I created. The Individuals square is for everypony that I ever met and their affiliation with me. The Journal Square is for documenting all of my adventures so that I won’t forget them.”
“What about the Fun Square?” Discord narrowed his eyes at Statice as he pointed at the only square that was not described. Wanting to get it over with, the green unicorn gave Discord the shortest summary he could give.
“The Fun Square contains either visual memories or magical games that I created for my personal amusement. You’ve seen it when I showed you my past.”
“Interesting,” Discord remarked as he rubbed his chin with the same expression one had when he suspected something fishy. It lasted a few seconds before he recovered his cheery expression. “Anyway, I think that I can help you with moving out, Statice! Hold on to me!”
The draconequus placed his eagle talon on the unicorn’s shoulder and promptly snapped his fingers. The pair vanished into a pop and appeared inside a large forest. Statice wandered the place with his eyes, trying to see where he was standing on.
“Where are we, Discord?” he asked.
“We are standing in the Everfree Forest, of course,” Discord spread his arms as if making an important announcement.
Statice dropped his jaw in surprise before gritting his teeth in anger. Of all the places that he chose, he just had to put him there. Even he knew of how dangerous the Everfree Forest was based on the rumors he heard during his early days in Equestria.
“Can you please tell me why you brought me here, Discord?” Statice asked angrily.
“You need a place to stay, so I figured that this was appropriate for you,” Discord shrugged his shoulders innocently.
“In what way is this place appropriate for me?” Statice asked.
“For starters, nopony is crazy enough to live here, so you’re going to be alone,” Discord gave Statice a hug and a noogie, lifting him into the air.
“I’m going to be alone with Zecora!” Statice snapped at him. “She is friends with Twilight, dude! If she talks with her or her friends, I’m gonna be caught.”
“Then don’t let her meet you,” Discord dropped Statice to the ground and waited for him to stand up. “You have lots of places on which to hide here, like in the castle.”
“The castle is filled traps and the girls are remodeling it!” Statice replied in frustration. He didn’t mind the traps as he could use his Echo Spell to find them, avoid them, and eventually dismantle them. What frustrated him about the castle was that he was destined to meet the girls thanks to their remodeling project. Why did they even bothering repairing the castle anyway? It’s not like anypony else was living on it! The worst part was that the castle was perhaps his best hiding spot and he lost it because of some ridiculous restoration idea those six mares had.
“You can try to go to civilization,” Discord pointed at a random direction.
“The closest civilization here is Ponyville, where the girls are!” Statice stomped a hoof irritably. “Are you even trying to help me or you’re just messing with me!”
“Both,” Discord smirked. “But you can try to go the only way you haven’t done yet, Statice.”
“Which is?” Statice raised an eyebrow.
“I suggest you go deeper into the Everfree Forest than anypony else has ever done,” Discord snapped his fingers and was dressed as a military. “You can’t be found in a place nopony knows.”
“I think that surrendering to Twilight is a more plausible solution,” Statice gave him a deadpan expression. “I don’t think that going into the unexplored parts of the Everfree is a good idea, Discord! What you don’t know will always get you!”
“Who said that?” Discord placed his hands on his hips in a sassy way.
“Practically any survivalist that returned home in one piece,” Statice responded annoyingly. “This place is filled with hydras, manticores, and Timberwolves! You want me to go deeper and see what more wants to make me its lunch?”
“I’m trying to help you, Statice!” Discord raised his eagle hand, tracing his finger into the air with a golden light to make a halo appear on top of his head in an effort to look innocent. “I’ve turned a new leaf and I intend to prove it with you.”
“You want to prove you’re good by sending me into peril?” Statice raised an eyebrow at him. “Forgive me if I doubt the credibility of your claims.”
Discord adopted a serious expression. “Look now, Statice. I am serious on my intentions and I’ll prove it. When your life is in danger, just call out my name and I’ll come to your aid.”
“Why should I call out your name?” Statice asked as he looked at him. “You are going with me.”
“Sadly, no,” Discord shook his head. “I have a picnic with Fluttershy and I cannot be late.”
He raised his fingers and was about to snap them. “Wait,” Statice called out. “I need to ask you something.”
“Sure,” Discord smiled kindly. “What do you need to do?”
“Are you sure that helping me is a good idea?” Statice asked, looking at Discord uncertainly.
“I made it clear that I was going to help you, didn’t I?” Discord gave him an exasperated look. “What must I do to…?”
“Fluttershy is one of the Elements of Harmony,” Statice reminded him softly. “I left Canterlot as a criminal, and that makes me her enemy by default. Are you sure you want to help me, Discord? You already betrayed her for Tirek. I don’t want you to hurt her because of me.”
That explanation caught Discord off guard. Even to this day, he still felt guilty over betraying Fluttershy. She had given him a second chance, besides Celestia, when nopony else trusted him. She even defended him and saved him from the wrath of Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash when they thought that he had made Celestia and Luna disappear. She even took care of him when he was sick despite the fact that he tried to ruin Twilight and Cadence’s quality time. He felt sick at the idea of hurting her again, especially now that he had befriended the rest of the girls.
“I don’t want to hurt Fluttershy again,” Discord lowered his head. “But that doesn’t mean that I want you to be on your own.” He raised his head to look at Statice fiercely with determination. “You are just like me, a chaotic soul trying to fit in a world of peace and harmony. But you’re not me. You don’t have my charm, my good looks, and my power. You’ll be doomed if you don’t have somepony who can assist you here.”
Statice frowned, at first from sympathy and then from annoyance at Discord’s speech. He was more than capable of surviving Equestria, thank you very much! As much as he wanted him to let him know that, he decided that Discord deserved to give his speech. He was just learning to be a friend…the same way he was learning to be a friend.
“What I am trying to say, Statice, is that you need a friend and I am willing to be that friend,” Discord finished his speech by placing his hands on his shoulders and staring at him dead in the eyes. He really meant what he said, and Statice could see the honesty inside of him.
“I guess I’ll believe you,” Statice replied with the same honest expression as Discord. “You’re risking an awful lot to help me so you deserve my trust on this.”
Discord’s expression brightened as he grabbed Statice on his hands and gave him a hug. “Was that so hard, Statice?” Discord asked as he rubbed his cheek against the unicorn’s face, disgusting him to no end.
“I think that you’re spoiling the moment,” Statice shoved his hooves on Discord’s face, trying to break the infernal hug he was receiving from him.
“Sorry about that,” Discord smiled as he broke the hug and let Statice fall onto his rump. “And sorry about that as well,” he smiled playfully at the glare he received from his new friend.
“Don’t you have a picnic to attend to, Discord?” Statice reminded him with a cross look and a growling voice.
“Oh my!” Discord slapped a paw to his cheek. “I nearly forgot about it. I better go see Fluttershy.”
The draconequus snapped his finger and some sort of vehicle resembling a bike materialized in front of them. Despite its size being significantly smaller than him, Discord somehow managed to get into the vehicle and drive away from the forest.
Statice stared at his ally for a few seconds with a blank expression on his face. A shake of his head erased the lack of emotion as he thought of his options.
“North, south, east, and west,” Statice chanted as he analyzed his options.
Going into the north meant going into the unexplored parts of the Everfree Forest on his own. It was already a danger to be in the known parts of the forest so imagining the dangers of the unexplored gave him the shivers. The monsters inside that part were probably more dangerous than anything that he could currently face at the forest or anything else he faced on his past.
If he went to the south, he was bound to reach Ponyville. The idea of civilization calmed him, especially after seeing how peaceful and friendly the town and its citizens were thanks to Discord’s memories. Unfortunately, the Elements of Harmony lived in that town and they probably told the citizens bad things about him. If he went there, chances were that he was going to get captured. He could disguise himself, but even he was afraid of Pinkie Pie’s ability to challenge the universe. There was a chance that she could see through his disguise, and that was a gamble on which he was not going to partake.
The castle at the east was the perfect hiding place for Statice, with emphasis on the “was” part. He wasn’t afraid of abandoned buildings because they were mainly old and surrounded with myths that would keep anypony gullible enough away from them. He didn’t mind the traps that were in the castle as long as they were not as dangerous as any other traps that he activated during his days as an adventurer. What he did mind were the constant visits the Elements of Harmony made to the castle. Since they visited the place regularly for renovation and research, it would be like breaking into the house of somepony else. No matter how much one can break in and try to hide his visit, sooner or later, he was bound to be found. That was not going to happen. Statice was not going to allow for anypony else to hunt him down like an animal! Again…
Going into the west was probably his safest route. Zecora, the zebra who was good enough to survive and live inside the Everfree Forest for years, could give him advice and supplies for his stay in the woods. The bad part was that she was also friends with the Elements, which meant that there was a chance that she may become an enemy upon meeting her or that she may have one of the Elements in her hut, which may lead to his eventual capture.
Statice grinded his teeth as three of his options exposed him to capture. Why couldn’t he reach Equestria during the times on which nopony else wanted to go to the Everfree? Even his only remaining option was a gamble with a far more horrific outcome should he be unlucky.
“What you don’t know won’t hurt you,” Statice chanted. It was an old saying that adventurers said to motivate themselves into going into dangerous territories. On Statice’s experience, the chant was a 50/50 deal. Not knowing anything led to being unprepared to survive anything. On the other hoof, sometimes some places were more peaceful than they appeared so there was a chance that he was worrying for nothing.
“I’m going north,” Statice told himself. He stared at his new objective with a blank look before his eyes hardened into a determined stare. He moved his hooves forward and now he was journeying into a new route.
Statice walked for what he calculated to be an hour. There were no signs of life on his route, which relieved him as that meant that there were no predators around him. He could relax for the time being, but he still needed to stay at the tips of his hooves if something was ready to attack him.
“You can do this,” Statice mouthed the words to avoid making a sound. “You have a friend that will get you out of here. Just keep moving forward, Statice.”
His self-rousing speech reassured him a bit, but it still did nothing for his lingering worry. There were occasions on which a silent environment meant that there was a predator so big and scary that no living creature stayed within its domain. A small chance of Statice invading his territory and becoming his next meal was possible.
“Calm down,” he reassured himself silently. “You faced worse, Statice! Just because you retired recently doesn’t mean that you lost your skills!”
He took a deep breath and raised his ears. Any danger could be avoided as one used his senses correctly. His eyes did not see anything out of the ordinary, but his ears could pinpoint a source of danger that could tell him where not to go. He stood still and listened to what the forest had to say to him.
“AH!”
A scream was detected at nine of clock. But it wasn’t just a scream. It was a combination of three screams. They were obviously female, but the pitch gave away their young age. His conclusion: three fillies were in danger.
“Darn it!” Statice swore as he now spoke angrily. He didn’t want to expose himself to danger in this part of the forest, but there was no way in Tartarus that he was going to let three fillies to be hurt for his selfishness. As much as he wanted to stay out of trouble, he was not going to turn his back on somepony in need of help.
Statice lighted his horn with magic as an aura surrounded his body. He jumped in place for a few seconds before he darted with insane speed at the source of the scream. The Gallop Burst Spell that he was using coated his body with lightning magic that boosted his velocity. Although teleporting was an easier choice, there was a chance that he may teleport on the wrong location if he tried to reach an unseen place just by sound alone. Magically running with augmented speed was the natural solution to his problem…regardless of how weird it sounded in words.
With each sprint he gave, Statice heard the screams getting louder and clearer. He was close to the fillies. Focusing his magic, he canceled the spell in order to preserve his energy. By the time the magic aura around his body disappeared, Statice had already reached his destination. Needless to say, he was not pleased to see what he was facing at the moment.
A pack of ten wolves made of wood and leaves was surrounding three scared fillies. But they were no ordinary fillies. The fillies were a yellow earth pony, a white unicorn, and an orange pegasus. Discord had shown him enough memories to know those fillies. They were the Cutie Mark Crusaders… and they needed his help.
“Stupid kids,” Statice growled as he noticed some pebbles and levitated them close to him. He should have taken his chances with Zecora…
“This sucks!” Scootaloo cried as she hugged her friends. “Thanks a lot for your idea of getting our cutie marks in cartography, Sweetie Belle.”
“I wanted to try to do butterfly catching but you didn’t think it was cool enough, you dodo!” Sweetie Belle snapped with tears in her eyes.
“Would you two quit it?” Apple Bloom glared at her friends. “We have to find a way to escape these Timberwolves.”
“How are we gonna do that?” Scootaloo gestured at the wolves with her head. “In case you didn’t notice, we are outnumbered and outmatched.”
Apple Bloom was about to reply when one of the Timberwolves pounced on them. The trio of fillies screamed as loud as they could as they saw their lives flash before their eyes and culminating in a wide open Timberwolf jaw. The smell that came out of the monster’s mouth was atrocious, a cruel reminder that they were going to be gobbled up and digested.
Before those teeth had the chance of clamping on their bodies, many green lights erupted from the side of the Timberwolf, making it explode into pieces. The fillies and the rest of the Timberwolves got slacked jaw.
“What just happened?” Scootaloo asked, too shocked to say that what had happened was awesome.
“Ah’m not sure,” Apple Bloom blinked but regained her fear. “But whatever happened right now, Ah hope it does again, because there are still nine more Timberwolves out there to get us.”
The Timberwolves snapped out of their shock and glared at the fillies. They snarled at them for what had happened to their friend and now they were going out for them with a vengeance. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo screamed and hugged each other but Sweetie Belle remained immobile, still aghast for what happened.
“We’re gonna die!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo cried out as they hugged each other with tears in their eyes.
“We’re not,” Sweetie Belle spoke, smiling. “We got a friend to save us,” she pointed a hoof in front of them. “Look over there.”
Sweetie Belle’s happiness snapped the hugging fillies out of their panic as they followed her hoof’s direction. At a side of the scuffle, there was a green unicorn levitating some pebbles and glaring at the Timberwolves defiantly.
“Hey, mutts!” He called out angrily. “Why don’t you guys mess with somepony your own size?”
As he said that, he threw the pebbles at a couple of Timberwolves. Much to the fillies’ surprise, the pebbles exploded when they hit the Timberwolves, destroying their bodies into splinters.
“This is awesome!” Scootaloo pumped her hoof into the air.
“We’re goin’ to make it!” Apple Bloom hopped happily. “It’s a good thing that a hero came by to save us.”
“Yeah, my hero,” Sweetie Belle smiled dreamingly at the green stallion that was risking his life to save them.
Apple Bloom stared at Sweetie Belle, confused with how weird she was acting. She understood being happy about the green unicorn coming to save them, but she sounded way too woozy. Before she had the chance to comment, she heard something and was enthralled at what was happening in front of her.
“This is the best fight I’ve ever seen!” Scootaloo cheered as she watched the green unicorn fighting off the Timberwolves.
Statice loved the Propulsion Spell. It was like levitating objects but, rather than focusing the magic evenly on the object’s surface, it focused all of the magic at one end of the object. By condensing and releasing the magic at one end, the object was shot faster than when it was shot by a levitation spell. Curiously enough, every time that the objects hit their mark, they blew up. Although he wasn’t sure what was the reason behind those explosions, Statice didn’t mind or even care about the results as long as it got his enemies out of his back.
“Lay off the fillies!” Statice commanded as he threw more rocks with his Propulsion Spell. Three more Timberwolves fell by the exploding rocks he threw at them. One was hit on the chest and burst into pieces, another one was hit on the legs and he fell hard on the ground to shatter, and the third one got its head destroyed and then had its body remains ram against a tree.
“Six down and four more to go,” Statice counted as the remaining four Timberwolves surrounded him. To make matters worse, the Timberwolves got angrier than ever with each one he beat. They were going to be at their most violent now. And for further difficulty, there were no more pebbles to use as explosives now.
One of the Timberwolves lunged at him, Statice jumped to the side to avoid its attack, but it turned out to be a ruse. Another Timberwolf had taken the chance to tackle him when he had avoided the first attack. The green stallion started wrestling with the Timberwolf, trying to get it off before its three brothers had the chance to attack him. He heard the Crusaders gasp at his predicament and then he heard them scream again.
Statice widened his eyes, purposely rolling the Timberwolf to the side to see what was happening. He was mistaken about the intelligence of the Timberwolves. They forgot about their grudge against him and were back to the meal that they were chasing before he got there.
The Crusaders trembled as the Timberwolves approached them, no longer having his protection now that he was facing his personal Timberwolf. Statice gritted his teeth as he continued rolling in the embrace of the Timberwolf, dodging the bites that it was throwing at him. He had to dispose of him now to destroy the remaining ones or else the Crusaders were not going to make it. Another dodged bite led to him smelling the infamous breath of the Timberwolf.
“That’s gross!” Statice complained as the scent hit his nostrils. The foul breath smelled like sulfur, worse than rotten eggs. It was then that an idea popped into his head. It was all so simple. Why didn’t he see it until now?
Sulfur was flammable and so were the Timberwolves. They were made of wood for the sake of Tartarus!
“It’s time to show you who is the top dog over here!” Statice lighted his horn with magic, letting tendrils wrap around all four hooves. Placing his hind hooves onto the wolf’s belly, Statice gave a mighty push and sent the Timberwolf flying into the air.
The Timberwolf kicked all four of its paws in an attempt not to fly into the sky and then not to fall when he saw how far on the air he was, making whimpering sounds as he tried. It was quite a depressing sight before gravity did its cruel job to bring it back to land. The terror the Timberwolf felt increased when it saw the green unicorn standing on his haunches and with a hoof clad in magic reared back for a punch.
“This is gonna hurt!” Statice promised as he threw the punch and hit the Timberwolf straight in the face. Time slowed down as the hoof hit the bark, fissures spread across the face, down the neck, around the torso, and descended into the legs and tail. It appeared as if the Timberwolf was going to burst into pieces based on the arrangement of the fissures, but even more fissures spread on what were supposed to be the pieces. Lights of green magic came out of the cracks as time went back to normal.
The Timberwolf exploded in a green burst. Its remains were now smaller than toothpicks. For the second time since their conflict started, the Crusaders and the Timberwolf were left slack jawed at their current development. They looked at the green stallion as he was busy dissipating the magic around his hooves casually.
“You messed with the wrong ponies,” Statice said calmly, appreciating the reaction to his Enhancement Spell. He always got a kick out of using the spell to skyrocket his physical strength to ridiculous levels and then watching the reactions of everypony else when he did something awesome with it. Hay, even he was surprised at how he obliterated the Timberwolf.
The remaining trio of Timberwolves was scared. They didn’t move a single inch even though they were now within biting distance to the Crusaders. The green unicorn took a step forward and the wolves gave a step back. He took another step forward and they stepped back. By the third step, the wolves recovered their courage and attacked the unicorn all at once.
“Burn away, mutts,” Statice coldly muttered as he levitated the Timberwolves into the air. The wolves whimpered as they realized how defenseless they were. Their pathetic noise came to an end when they were consumed by green flames from within them. They had no more time to say anything else as the flames floated where they used to be. Statice kept the flames where they were until he saw the ashes of his fallen enemies land on the grass.
“That’s enough for now,” he said as he absorbed the flames into his horn. He turned around and found the Cutie Mark Crusaders staring at him blankly.
He widened his eyes and slapped a hoof onto his face.
He traumatized them. It was just like on his previous tries. He saved somepony else in a…morally questionable way and then they ran away from him or yelled at him for doing something reprehensible. And he did all of this to the fillies who were sisters with three of the Elements of Harmony, students of the leader of those bearers, and the best friends to a zebra that was tough enough to survive the Everfree Forest all on her own.
Not even the Everfree Forest was going to be a safe hiding place for him now…well it wasn’t safe on the first place but still…
“YAY!”
Three fillies threw themselves at Statice and gave him a group hug. The stallion gasped at the sudden display of affection. They were supposed to run away from him so why were they happy? A long time ago, he would have enjoyed the gesture of gratitude instead of being treated as an amoral monster…but now he was just confused.
“Thanks for saving us, Mister!” Apple Bloom nuzzled his chest.
“That was awesome!” Scootaloo nuzzled his neck.
“My hero,” Sweetie Belle drowsily said as she kissed his cheek.
Statice was left in shock. Gratitude never came so easily to him. Even those who eventually accepted him in the past had trouble at first. And yet…the Crusaders accepted him right away.
“Thanks,” Statice replied. “But I was just doing my duty. It’s not right to let fillies wander in a dangerous forest, especially when giant woody wolves are trying to eat them for breakfast.”
The girls laughed at his joke. Statice smiled inwardly, but still remained serene out of fear of saying something that could kill the mood.
“What’s your name, sir?” Sweetie Belle asked as they broke the hug.
“My name is Static,” he replied instantly. It had become a habit for him to say his nickname rather than his true name because of his former job. Even now, it was suggestible to avoid saying his real name given his previous encounters in Canterlot. And yet, he felt a small sliver of guilt for lying at the fillies.
“My name is Static and is nice to meet you.”
“How did you manage to burn the Timberwolves like that, Static?” Sweetie Belle asked as she and the girls walked with Statice. “Did you use some type of fire spell? I read that those are kind of hard.”
It had taken a few minutes before the Cutie Mark Crusaders introduced themselves to Statice by name and mission. The green unicorn was more than familiar with the fillies as they starred in several stories that Discord showed him on his first meeting. Regardless, he had to act as if he didn’t know about them in order to avoid raising suspicion. His first idea was to walk the girls away from the dangerous part of the Everfree Forest in order to ensure that they return safely to Ponyville.
“I used an original spell of mine,” Statice replied. “It works by focusing my magic on flammable substances to create fire in a more efficient and magic conserving way than most fire spells.”
“You mean like the wood of the Timberwolves?” Apple Bloom asked as she got curious. She was not much interested on magic but watching him make fire that easily awoke her interest.
“The wood, the sulfur inside the wolves, and the oxygen,” Statice answered as he remembered the chemistry lessons his friend Digitalis taught him about fire. “All of those things are combustible and capable of making fire.”
The Fire Ignition Spell was an elemental spell that Statice created on a whim. One day, Digitalis told him that it was almost impossible for a unicorn to have multiple elemental affinities at a time so Statice challenged himself to create at least one original spell for the basic four elements. Although he was an earth element user, he at least succeeded in making one spell for each element, albeit with some difficulty.
“Speaking about fire, can you tell us what spell you used to absorb the fire into your horn?” Scootaloo asked with buzzing wings. “You just sucked those flames and you didn’t get burned or anything.”
“That was a Magic Reclaiming Spell,” Statice answered proudly. “It allows me to absorb all the magic I used on my previous spells.”
“But how come you didn’t get burned?” Sweetie Belle asked, more curious about the fire than the spell itself.
“The fire was made with my magic so I won’t get burned once I reclaim it,” Statice explained calmly. “It guarantees a 99% magic recovery if done right.”
“What happened to the remaining 1%?” Apple Bloom asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I had to spend it to use the spell in the first place,” Statice chuckled, feeling relieved that he was doing well with the Crusaders. He felt happier to see that the fillies were laughing at his joke.
Once they were close to leaving the Everfree, Statice stopped and let the girls walk forward. Much to his dismay, the fillies realized that their new friend was not going with them into Ponyville.
“What’s wrong, Static?” Apple Bloom asked Statice in concern.
“Sorry, girls, but I’m not a town pony,” Statice admitted. Technically speaking, it wasn’t a lie given his track record of being forced to run away from town to town, but he still felt guilty to say that to the foal.
“But aren’t you gonna come with us?” Scootaloo took a step forward. “You gotta see Ponyville! We can ask Pinkie Pie to make you a party for saving our lives.”
“I’m not much of a party pony,” Statice shook his head. “In fact, I am not a social pony at all. That’s why I live in the Everfree Forest.”
“But the Everfree Forest is dangerous!” Sweetie Belle gasped, not liking where her new crush was living.
“I’m a grown stallion with magic,” Statice shrugged his shoulders. “Which reminds me, why were you girls at the Everfree Forest? You could have gotten eaten by those Timberwolves if I had not come to your aid?”
“We were trying to get our cutie marks in cartography,” Scootaloo admitted, lowering her head and pawing the ground in shame at nearly getting herself and her friends killed.
“Why did you decide to go to the Everfree Forest then?” Statice asked them softly but a little more sternly. He had to teach those fillies a lesson.
“All of Equestria is already in the map so we thought that if we go deeper into the Everfree then we would most likely find an ancient city or something,” Apple Bloom admitted, feeling more like a fool as she realized how ridiculous the idea was in the first place.
“Girls, I’m not sure about your cutie marks, but I can guarantee that you’ll never get them in the Everfree Forest, so don’t try anything like that again,” Statice sighed, feeling some frustration at the fillies. What was it with those three and their affinity to go there in the first place?
“We’re sorry,” the Crusaders apologized simultaneously.
“It’s okay,” Statice went and petted their manes softly, making them smile. “But you girls have to be careful from now on. I’m not your daddy.”
The fillies laughed at his last comment before giving him another hug. Before they could break their embrace, Statice held them firmly in his arms and stared at their eyes.
“I need you to make me a promise,” he told them. “Can I trust you with being secret keepers?”
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SECRET KEEPERS!” the trio yelled enthusiastically. The stallion gritted his teeth and covered his ears with his hooves, letting the trio fall to their rumps.
“I need you to keep my existence a secret from Ponyville,” Statice clarified them his secret…as soon as he made sure to hear again.
“Why don’t ya want Ponyville to know about you?” Apple Bloom asked unsurely.
“I’m shy,” Statice deadpanned. “Now listen, I don’t want anypony to look for me. I don’t feel comfortable with having a stranger following me, even if said stranger is an acquaintance of yours. Can I trust you with keeping this a secret?”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” the Crusaders made the gestures for a Pinkie Promise.
Statice smiled in spite of the ridiculous gestures. They were serious about keeping his secret… and even if they were not, he was glad to know that they were going to suffer the second Pinkie Pie heard about them breaking their promise. He waved at them as they went into Ponyville, hearing them wonder how their cutie marks in secret keeping were going to look like.
As soon as they were out of sight, Statice sighed and turned around back into the forest. The fillies were cute, but they were also going to be a great burden, especially if they insisted in coming back into the Everfree Forest. He couldn’t be there for them every time that they got in trouble. Even worse was that Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash were most likely to find him if their sisters ended up revealing a little too much about him. They didn’t need to learn the whole truth to search for him when they could simply go to the Everfree Forest and find him by coincidence.
He was going to need an operation center, a base where he could live in the Everfree Forest without being detected. It had to be far enough to not be found in Ponyville but close enough to a source of protection from the predators. He spent hours travelling into the forest, trying to find the perfect hiding place. His frustration built up as he felt his search was not giving him the results he wanted. Ultimately, he found what he wanted: a large tree with a big entrance in the middle.
“Perfect,” Statice purred in satisfaction as he lighted his horn.
He focused his magic on the earth, preparing to build a base underground. Though Statice was infamous for his lightning magic, his true elemental magic was focused on earth, which was shown in the power of his earth spells. His Earth Compacting Spell, for example, allowed him to control the density of the earth and to manipulate it. He formed a large hole twelve feet deep, making sure to add some solid earth stairs as well. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he made sure to use the spell again to make a room nine feet tall and twenty four feet wide. Now he had a place on which to rest for the time being. He made sure to use the spell a third time to turn the moist soil solid to ensure structural stability for his new room.
“Might as well work on the details,” Statice examined the room with pride before giving it his own personal touch. He first used his Aromatic Spell to remove the smell of mud from his new home. Statice created the spell to smell like any flower that he desired and this time he chose lavender for his nasal delight.
“Now for the perfect temperature,” Statice used his magic to summon an orb of green light. He was familiar with how hot an underground base could get and he wasn’t sure how cold the air in the Everfree Forest could become at night, so he made an Optimal Temperature Spell to ensure that his place was at room temperature.
“Some vegetable life will be nice,” Statice smiled as he focused his magic on the earth beneath his hooves. He focused on the soil, its humidity, and its nutrients, letting his magic change those properties to his desires. Before long, the soil was perfect for breeding roses, daisies, sunflowers, and many more flowers. With the Fertilization Spell he invented, Statice could have the garden of his dreams.
“For a makeshift home, you do know how to live with style, Statice,” a voice interrupted the green stallion from his task, but it did not disrupt his concentration.
“How was your picnic, Discord?” Statice asked as he kept modeling his temporary abode. “Did Fluttershy suspect anything?”
“No,” said Discord with some relief in his voice. “But my chaos senses tingled as my tail pointed to the Everfree Forest. Did something happen while I was gone?”
“I met the Crusaders,” Statice answered simply.
Discord burst into laughter at his response. It took Statice five minutes to get him to shut up long enough to tell him what happened.
“Those Crusaders are one shenanigan after another,” Discord wiped a tear from his eye. “I just love the chaos that they cause.”
“Speak for yourself, Discord!” Statice snorted. “If the forest doesn’t destroy me then those girls will.”
He lighted his horn in magic and then spread it across his body. A pony shaped drawing came out from his horn with some numbers written on the side.
“What is it that you’re doing, Statice?” Discord asked as he wrapped himself around Statice’s body.
“A Biofeedback Spell,” Statice remarked as he checked on the information. “It’s a scan that says if there is something wrong with my body. It checks stuff like my heart rate, blood pressure, breathing difficulties, and even how much magic do I have on my reserves.”
“You outdid yourself today,” Discord gave a low whistle. “Your magic reserves are at 48% right now.”
“Filly saving and house modeling demands an awful lot of magic,” Statice replied as he gave his room a look. “I’m gonna have to replenish my magic reserves.”
“And how will you do that?” Discord asked. The draconequus was familiar with the classical “wait until I feel strong again” routine, but what Statice promised made it worth the wait.
Statice used his Hammerspace to summon lots of bracelets and bands filled with gems and crystals. He closed his eyes and poured magic on each gem, increasing their glowing. After he was done with the process, Statice sent them back to Hammerspace, feeling more exhausted than ever.
“What was the purpose for all that?” Discord asked as he flipped himself upside down. He loved the classic opposite chaos where ponies did the opposite of what they wanted to do, but he knew Statice was probably going to give him a surprise.
“I used a Magic Storage Spell to store some of my magic on those gems,” Statice responded with panting. He made a Biofeedback Spell again and saw that his reserves were at 28% after the whole process.
“You mean that you spend your magic on those gems to make them shine brighter?” Discord asked teasingly. Now all he needed to do was to wait for the answer.
“Consider the spell like an investment at a bank,” Statice replied as he stared back at Discord. “You pay your bits and then you get them back the next month with interests. My spell works like that.”
“You mean that once you get your magic naturally restored, you use those bracelets as the interests that temporarily increase your magical capacity when you put them on?” Discord asked as he got the gist and loved it when he saw Statice’s surprised reaction at his description.
“Yeah,” Statice nodded. Though he was aware that Discord knew his spells, he found it weird that Discord could get his metaphor and describe it that eloquently. It turned out that sophisticated Discord was more disturbing than wacky Discord.
“I gotta say that you are a brilliant unicorn, Statice,” the draconequus patted Statice on the back. “Nowadays, it is hard to find somepony that bothers to produce his own amulets.”
“They’re not amulets,” Statice snorted. “I don’t think that I can make something of that caliber.” That was the truth. Amulets were powerful magic amplifiers and they at least lasted forever in contrast to his treasures that temporarily boosted his magic power.
“Whatever,” Discord snapped his fingers, causing the hole on the top of the stairs to be covered with leaves. “Now you won’t have to waste unnecessary magic with an illusion to prevent anypony else from reaching your place.”
“Thanks, Discord,” Statice blinked at the kind gesture. Discord really meant what he said earlier that morning. He was willing to help him out.
“You’re welcome, Statice,” Discord smiled at him before vanishing with a finger snap. “Remember I’m always willing to come after you when you say my name!”
The unicorn gave a defeated sigh, letting his exhaustion finally reach him. He lighted his horn with magic one more time and let the magical aura spread across his body. He moaned blissfully as he felt many vibrations spread across his body. His Massage Spell was doing its job by sending multiple vibrations in his body, giving him the ultimate massage.
Once his body was completely relaxed, Statice cancelled the spell and closed his eyes. “I guess today was not so bad,” he said dreamily as he finally fell asleep. “I just hope tomorrow gets better.”