The Fall of Twilight

by Ephraim Blue

Chapter 22 - A Cutie Mark's Meaning

Chapter 22 - A Cutie Mark's Meaning

Grazil Library July 30th 1001

Graymayne was set down upon the bed where he was bound. Twilight and Blue made sure that it was tight. Otherwise, he could get out and head after Blue once again.

There was the matter of his horn that still needed tending to. Blue had simply tapped his watch and disappeared. He returned seconds later with a special ring.

"This thing is called a limiter," he said. "Supposedly, you put it on a unicorn's horn, and they can no longer do magic. It also has magical properties that prevent the unicorn himself from taking it off. Only the one who activates it can turn it off."

"Where did you get this?" Twilight asked. "There have been several projects in Canterlot about preventing a unicorn from using their magic, but how is this here right now? They are still in the testing phase!"

"Simple," Blue responded. "I went into the future and got one."

"With your watch?"

"Yes. I told you about this when we were in your memories. Remember?"

"Yeah, but I thought you were making that up."

"Nope. That entire story was true. Whether you chose to believe it or not was your choice."

Graymayne in front of them started to stir. "Better put this thing on then," Blue said as he did just that.

He quickly backed away, allowing the stallion to wake up peacefully. "Oh, what hit me?" he asked.

"My sleeping spell," Blue replied. "Perfectly harmless and just enough of a dosage to knock you out for an hour."

Graymayne took a moment to register what he had said. When he did, he was fully awake. "What am I doing bound to a bed?!" he furiously asked.

"Your going to tell us where Discord is hiding," said Twilight.

"Yeah right!" he screamed. He grunted his head, trying to cast a spell. "What is going on?! Why can't I cast magic?"

"I put a limiter on you," Blue said. "Future technology. Won't fully be around for another decade I suppose."

"Then why is it on my horn?!"

"Because I put it there."

"And how do you have one if its not going to be around for another decade?"

"I went to the future and picked one up."

"That's not possible," Graymayne stated. "Nopony can travel into the future."

"Then I'm pretty sure that if I changed my name to 'Nopony,' everything would be all right then."

Twilight stifled a laugh. Graymayne ignored her and said: "How did you conjure?"

"I'm sorry?"

"How did you conjure? Conjuring is black magic. Nopony besides myself and my master can use it. Still, you did just that."

"Technically, any kind of magic you use, no matter what its intended purpose is, is just magic. You can use a levitation spell and use it to drink tea. Some might consider that white magic. However, you can also use the levitation spell for evil purposes. Others might call that black magic. All in all, I never cast black magic. I just did the spell you did to defend myself."

"I guess that's true. But that still doesn't explain why you are able to do that spell. I doubt somepony actually taught you how to do something like that."

"Actually, Somepony did. He lives at the top of the mountain that Canterlot rests upon." Both the other ponies stared at him like he was an idiot. "I'm joking. However, I was taught how to conjure objects out of thin air."

"Really? By who?" Graymayne asked.

"You taught me. During that battle, remember?" Blue replied.

"I merely used it against you! I never taught you anything!"

"Do you know what my cutie mark means?"

"What?" Both Twilight and Graymayne asked at the same time.

"Do you know what my cutie mark means? Simple question. Yes or No."

"No," they both replied.

"Well, that wasn't so hard now, was it?" he mocked. "Anyway, most ponies don't bother asking me about it. They just assume I'm some sort of out-of-place stallion. That is entirely untrue."

"Then what does it mean?" Twilight asked.

"Well, when I first arrived in Ponyville a while back, I was asked that question many times. I didn't want other ponies to be afraid of me, so I told them it was because I was different. Because I stood out. How many ponies do you see with orange bubbles on their flank? Anyway, what I told them was partly true. When I got this, to was when I did a spell that a superior at the school for gifted unicorns did in front of me. It was a highly dangerous and difficult spell, but I had no problem doing it. I just thought about what I had seen him do and what the spell was supposed to accomplish, and I did it."

He took a small break to catch his breath. "My cutie mark is not about the spell I did, but how I did it. I accomplished a highly classified spell that I shouldn't have even been able to perform for another five years at most. The spell was teleportation. Simple to the advanced unicorns, like us three here, but not to a filly at the age of 7. My cutie mark means copying other spells that I have seen done in front of me. If somepony did conjuring in front of me, I could do it. If I saw somepony explode an apple, I could do it exactly like they did it."

Both of the other ponies in the room stared at him in wonder. Graymayne broke the silence. "Well that explains how you conjured those shields and hands. How did you know where I was going to strike before I did so? And how did you teleport when there was a barrier around the place where we fought? And how did you heal so quickly after teleporting?"

"That was simple," he said. He then showed the watch to Graymayne. "This is no ordinary watch. It is really a vortex manipulator."

"And that is...?"

"A device that allows you to travel through time and space. During the battle, I warped to about 30 minutes before the battle started, giving me enough time to heal. After I saw myself disappear from in front of you, I saw my future self do all the things that I would be doing in the future. After I made you sleep, I went back in time to the point where I appeared behind you."

Graymayne sat his head back onto the bed. "What are you going to do with me?" he asked.

"Nothing much," Blue said. "We're just going to interrogate you about where Discord's lair is. Then, we'll let you go."

"No."

"What was that?"

"No. I'm not telling you where Discord's lair is."

"Hmm. I was afraid of that," Blue said.

No Specific Location July 30th 1001

After the shadow appeared in front of them the other day, Rainbow, Spike, and Chrysalis had decided that they should find a place to rest for the night.

After they all woke up, they decided that they needed to discuss what to do.

"How are we supposed to find Discord's lair if we don't know where to look?" Rainbow asked. "Twilight asked us to find it and return to the library tomorrow."

"I know," Chrysalis said. "I was there when she asked us to do it. But speaking of Twilight, how did she speak to us?"

"I wouldn't know," Spike said. "You two were there when she appeared out of thin air."

"That's just it, Spike. She's been banished. The barrier on the edge of Equestria prevents anypony from crossing it if they've been banished. She couldn't have been here talking to us."

"And yet she was," Rainbow stated.

"She could have an evil clone," Spike suggested.

"Why would an evil cone want us to help her get back?"

"She's evil?"

"That doesn't make any sense."

"I guess that we won't know for sure unless we ask her ourselves next time we see her," Chrysalis said. "In the meantime, we should continue searching for Discord."

Spike and Rainbow agreed, following the changeling queen further away from civilization.

Comments

[Ephraim Blue]

4191750 Okay.

[eighter]

[Ephraim Blue]

4193213
Ha! The Pinkie has been tripled!

[Ephraim Blue]

4193685 Okay.

[Ruby Sapphire]

I'm just imagining your oc with john barrowmans voice