Ever After

by Mixer

Prologue

It's been two hundred years since the last conflict in Equestria, one that led to the death of Mixer, but also the end to the evils that lurked in the shadows. And things have changed greatly in Equestria.

Years after the conflict, Twilight completed her training to be a princess and took over as the standing ruler of Equestria, with Celestia guiding her from behind the scenes. Luna and Sombra have retired since Twilight ascended to the throne, leaving Equestria to travel the world. After they left, their son, Shooting Star, tried to take the throne from Twilight, forcing the mane six to use the Elements of Harmony on him. He was exiled to the void of space. After this the Elements of Harmony were never used again, as they were not needed after that, and went dormant after the death of the mane six.

The one downside to Twilight’s immortality as an alicorn was that she outlived her friends and watched as they grew old while she retained her youth. She did not take it very well, but with Celestia to help her she was able to overcome her grief and resume her duties as princess, though never again would she let herself make friends. It was worse with Cadence; after the death of Shining Armor, she was devastated. She never got over her grief, refusing to leave the castle. The Crystal Empire has since been ruled by a council of advisors.

The former villain Discord disappeared after Fluttershy’s death, having no more friends and no more reason the be in Equestria. He has yet to return, and harmony has remained in balance.

After Crystal, the daughter of Chrysalis -and adopted daughter of Mixer-was of the age to control the swarm, with Celestia’s approval she brought changelings back into Equestria. They are now free to roam the streets in their natural forms, or original guises, as long as they have an identifier necklace.

Soulless, one of Mixer's friends, had children with Rainbow Dash. That lineage has survived so far for three generations. Our story begins with one of these descendants, a young pegasus colt, Divergent Breeze, the great grandson of Rainbow Dash and Soulless...

“But mom,” Divergent Breeze complained. "I don't want to practice today."

“If you don’t practice flying, you'll never be able to do the sonic rainboom,” his mother, Summer Shower, stated.

"Nopony since Rainbow Dash has been able to do it anyway," muttered Breeze.

“That doesn’t mean that you aren’t the next! Every generation of our family has tried to match the greatness of my grandmother,” she said.

“But her son couldn't and neither could grandpa,” he protested. "It's pointless!"

“Still, you need to practice flying to make your wings big and strong,” she said. His mother shook her head. “I don’t know how you can just sit inside and read those dusty books all day."

“They’re full of unicorns and magic, and so many great things,” Breeze said, his eyes shining. His mother weakly smiled.

“You definitely take after you’re great grandfather,” she said shaking her head. Soulless had been the only unicorn in the family; all of his descendants were pegasi.

“Ok,” Breeze relented, following his mother outside.

Breeze never did take flying lessons seriously, thinking of them as only a distraction. He would rather like to stay inside and read about magic, but his mother always told him that only unicorns could use magic, as if that was a well known fact. Which it was. So Breeze did his own kind of magic. He built things.

As a tradition, when a member of the family was old enough they would receive the components to make a hidden blade, an invention from Soulless. Since the original utilitarian design, the blades and their mechanisms had become more and more ornate, morphing into more of a status symbol than a weapon. Breeze always marveled at his mother’s, which was kept in a display case in their home. The ornate gauntlet that housed the blade had a metal exterior with a pattern similar to a gust of wind, each outlined against the silver backdrop with gold. The blade itself had a sapphire set into the broad part of the blade, a gleaming blue spot against shining steel.

Breeze, wanted his own, so he found the parts and put his own together while his mother was at work at the weather factory. When she came home, she was astonished to see that Breeze had a leather gauntlet with a superb mechanism on his left wrist. At first she scolded him for handling a blade when he was too young, but then she praised him for having put the mechanism together so well, being just a young colt.

Breeze never used the blade but he kept the mechanism on him at all times, considering it his greatest achievement. Over the years, he slowly added to the mechanism, producing a veritable tool kit, complete with wrench and screw driver as well as the blade.

As he grew older Breeze became restless, wandering about Canterlot, the perennial home of his family since Soulless and Rainbow Dash. In one of his days of wandering he was permitted to enter the castle to pay his respects to his great grandparents.

While he was there he met a changeling that was about his age, and the two of them began to talk. After talking for awhile Breeze learned that the changeling’s name was Flit, and the two of them became great friends.

After a few days of repeated trips to the castle, Celestia took notice of the young pegasus and invited him to stay at the castle, living in his great grandfather’s house in the caverns.
“Why hasn’t my family been living here?” he asked Celestia as she showed him to a door in the cavern walls.

“Because, nopony has been able to open it. It's locked with a mechanism that none have been able to decipher,” Celestia said, motioning to the circle of intricate symbols on the door.

“And you think that I can open it?” he asked.

“Possibly, with the help of your friend,” Celestia responded.

“Who, Flit?” he asked.

“Yes." Breeze thought for a few seconds, staring at the complex puzzle before him. It would be a challenge. But it would be fun.

“Well, we could try,” he said. Breeze convinced Flit to help him, and the two of them went to work on the lock. They had it open in under an hour.

“Really, it seemed so easy,” Breeze said.

“Only because the both of us were working on it,” Flit added.

“Yeah, how did you know what those symbols were?” Breeze asked. The changeling shrugged.

“Some of them are changeling characters,” he said. Celestia simply smiled at the two of them. Breeze turned to face the princess, a light grin on his face.

“So what now?” he asked.

“Well, you can have this house now,” Celestia said.

“Shall we go inside?” Flit asked.

“I do suppose it is mine now,” Breeze said. The three of them walked into the house. Not a single cobweb was in sight, and the interior looked like it had not been disturbed for more than a day.

“Wow, it looks so... new,” Breeze observed.

“Yeah, that’s a bit weird,” Flit said.
“If my memory serves me right, there should be an armory and practice room downstairs should you require them,” Celestia said.

“Require them for what?” Breeze asked.

“For your studies, should you choose to undertake them,” Celestia said. That piqued Breeze's interest.

“What studies?” Breeze asked.

“Your studies in all things that are magical, is that not what you want?” Celestia asked.

“But... how... what?” Breeze asked dumbfounded. "How do you know about that?"

“I know of many things, like your great grandfather’s history, and that of Mixer, but I am always interested to see what the future holds for promising individuals,” she said.
Breeze’s mouth hung open. Celestia had just invited him to stay and study at the castle. He couldn’t refuse such an offer.

Breeze began studying much of the material that Twilight had been studying when she was about his age. Magic, history, science. But the subject that fascinated him the most was not any older practice. Instead it was the fairly new technologies that were developing in Equestria. Breeze began to build his own inventions, things which he had never dreamed of building before. Within a few months of his studies Breeze unveiled a creation unlike any other. He vaguely hinted at his new creation to Flit and the changeling requested to see it.

“Ok Flit. I present to you, Cogs!” he said, pulling away the cloth covering.
He revealed a metal cylinder that was on its side, with two arms sticking out of it, each one ending in a clawed gripper.

“What is that thing?” Flit asked, dubious of the hunk of metal.

“I call it Cogs. Watch!” Breeze said excitedly as he set a glowing crystal into the back of the cylinder.
When he placed the crystal the cylinder separated into four parts, expanding and angling the four sections to make the center wider. The two arms started to move and the grippers opened and closed, all the while hissing and whirring. Flit jumped back, while Breeze just stood there with a huge smile on his face.
After a few more seconds of hissing and little puffs of steam Cogs stopped flailing around and came to rest. The glass covering the crystal seemed to be looking around.

“Cogs, shake,” Breeze commanded, holding out his hoof. One of the metal arms extended to meet his outstretched hoof. It grasped the appendage and shook with the kind of stiff grip a pony would expect from a metal arm. Flit just looked on, mouth agape at the mechanical marvel.

“What?” Breeze asked, and Cogs gave a shrug as if in question.

“What?” Flit repeated back, breathless, jaw dropping almost to the floor.

“It’s not like he’s as smart as a pony. He’s about as smart as the average dog,” Breeze said assuringly.

“So you made yourself a pet?” Flit asked. Breeze nodded.

“Yep, but he’s much more than a pet, watch,” he said as he lifted Cogs onto his back.

“That looks ridiculous,” Flit said, looking at his friend with the oddly shaped thing on his back.

“Not at all," the pegasus said. "Cogs, could you pick up that book for me?” he asked, indicating with his head a book on the table where Cogs had previously been. The machine responded by picking up the book and handing it to Breeze, making a whirring noise as it did so.

“That’s amazing!” Flit said.

“Well, he can’t move without me or somepony else to carry him, but he’s still pretty helpful,” Breeze said.

“No not him, that,” Flit said, pointing to Breeze's flank. Breeze looked back and saw that he was now sporting a cutie mark. The new mark was a cog with a wrench and a lightning bolt crossed in the center.

“Yes!" He cried. "Cogs, high hoof!” Breeze said, putting his hoof up for Cogs, who returned the gesture.
Breeze paraded around the castle, astounding the staff as Cogs waved to each of them as he passed. Flit trailed behind the pair, shaking his head in stunned awe.

Breeze continued his studies well into his teens and into adulthood. One day he was rereading the Mixer Chronicles, trying to find some hint at the inspiration for the two grand inventions of Mixer; the airship that the Lunar guard used, still on display in the Canterlot Museum, and the Mobile Party, the musical mech that he had made for the unicorn DJ Vinyl Scratch.

Hmm, I never noticed that the last page was blank. Breeze wondered to himself as he finished. As if in response to his thoughts, the book magically wrote a chapter title on the blank page, “Death of a Hero”.

“An epilogue?” Breeze asked aloud. He read the chapter as it magically wrote itself on the page, the text scrolling down as it ran out of room on the page. "I can't believe this!" he claimed as the writing crawled to a halt.

“It’s all true,” he heard a voice say.

“Who’s there?” Breeze asked. He cast about the room to find the source of the voice. “Flit, are you playing a trick on me?”

“There is nopony here but you,” the voice said. "Well, and me. But I don't suppose I count anymore." Breeze closed the book and looked around again.

“You know, it is impolite to slam books shut,” the voice said.

“What?” Breeze said looking down at the thick book's cover, seeing the title in gold set above and below a bluish crystal.

“For Soulless’s great grandson, you don’t catch on very quickly,” the voice said, and Breeze saw the crystal pulse with the words. Understanding dawned on him.

“Great, I’m talking to a book,” Breeze said.

“I’ll let you know that I’m not just a book, though I haven’t really been anything else in years,” the voice said.

“Oh really?” Breeze said.

“You really don’t know much about your great grandfather do you?" the book remarked. "Then again, he never did like talking to ponies,” the book said. "He did love his books..."

“So I’m talking to a book, that also happens to be a dead pony. OK FLIT YOU CAN STOP NOW!” Breeze yelled to the room.

“There’s no need to shout, I’m right here, even though I don’t need ears to hear you,” the voice said. Breeze looked almost accusingly at the book.

“You're not really him, are you?” Breeze asked.

“The one and only, though I can't quite say ‘in the flesh’. More like ‘in the pulp’,” the book said with a chuckle.

“So where did you get the idea for the airship?” Breeze demanded. The book cleared its... well Breeze didn't want to think about that, before continuing.

“Well, as you might have guessed, I was under the effects of the Whirlwind syndrome at the time, so it was not so much an inspiration. It was based on convection being more efficient if you could regulate it with cold at the top, as well as heat on the bottom,” Mixer said.

“Do you mind if I hold onto you for a bit?” Breeze asked.

“Well, I think that now you've read me more times than even Celestia. Plus I’m still technically a book, so anypony with the proper clearance could rent me from the archives. So yes, you may,” Mixer's disembodied voice said.

“Great, now maybe I can build something even better!” Breeze said. “Wait till Flit gets a load of this.”

“It seems he is about to” Mixer said just before Flit walked into the archives.

“There you are Breeze, I’ve been looking all over for you,” Flit said. The changeling looked questioningly at the book which Breeze hugged tightly to himself.

“Flit, you’re not going to believe this, but Mixer is in this book,” Breeze said, holding up the book.

“Well yeah, it is all about his life,” Flit said.

“No I mean he is the book,” Breeze explained.

“Ok sure,” Flit said dubiously.

“I assure you, it’s quite true,” Mixer claimed.

“Who said that?” Flit asked, looking around.

“He did,” Breeze said, holding up the book.

“You don’t expect me to believe that a book is talking to me,” Flit said.

“But it is him, look at the crystal in the cover."

“Very good, you figured it out, I’m in the crystal! Bravo. Perhaps you are more like your ancestor,” Mixer muttered.

“Whoa,” Flit said, staring as the crystal pulsated.

“I know, right?" Breeze said. "How cool is this?"

“We have to show Celestia,” Flit said.

“She already knows about me, though she hasn’t stopped by to say hello in more than fifty years. Sometimes I get the feeling she's just forgotten about me,” Mixer said.

“I think this is invaluable. He has two hundred years of knowledge to share with us,” Breeze said. His eyes gleamed.

“Well, my life is literally an open book, so yeah,” Mixer said.

“I have something to show you,” Breeze said.

“Oh, this ought to be interesting” Mixer remarked. His voice was getting to Breeze. He was still trying to work out if the ancient pony was being sarcastic or not.

Breeze took Mixer to show him Cogs, who was now a fixture in Breeze's workshop, and filled the old training room in his house.

“Ah, I see you used a crystal to power the machinery, and you made it semi intelligent to boot," Mixer said, slightly surprised. "I see potential in this, though who made the crystal?” he asked.

“There is a supply of them in the house. There are also a few in the Lunar guard barracks,” Breeze explained. The book seemed to shake slightly.

“Ah, good memories in that place. Such a shame that it has strayed so far from what I originally intended it to be. Although," Mixer reflected, "I guess that was to be expected when Luna retired. I wonder how her and Sombra are doing,” he wondered.

“So what do you think of Cogs?” Breeze asked.

“He’s a little underdeveloped, I mean, he has no way to move about, and no way to communicate, and he is still rather simple,” Mixer said.

“Oh, wow, just bash everything about it why don't you,” Breeze said.

“Now, if you want to build a real clockwork golem, then I can help with that,” Mixer said, ignoring the young pegasus' remark.

“I don’t like that look...” Flit said.

“What?” Breeze asked, a smile plastered on his face.

Author's Note:

If you are reading this, thank you.
Also, all editing credit goes to ParadoxSG

Comments

[Colt in the Moon]

Cool story bro. Can't wait for Quicksilver

[Mixer]

2378269 Well, I'm awake now, so off to the battle chapter...

[Colt in the Moon]

2378421 Sweet. So like how important will he be to the story? Major character or minor? Any dialogue?

[Mixer]

2378444 You're already in it as a minor, but once this thing really gets in gear, he's one of the magor OC's, since he's the only OC in the Lunar guard

[Colt in the Moon]

2378448 What about my other two questions?

[Mixer]

2378453 Dialogue will be in there, but he will become major after the battle. That's all I can say here without spoilers

[Colt in the Moon]

2378457 24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0phpqyNtk1rqfhi2o1_500.gif

[MudslingAccountInactive]

Dude this great!

Good thing you have an editor and that you have a pretty long way. You also made a great way for Mixer to play a role.

Keep wrighting!

[Mixer]

2380839 Almost ready to send the chapter with the big fight in, and when I do, you all get chapter one.

[MudslingAccountInactive]

2380843

Yay! I'll be working on that request of yours in the meantime

[Mixer]

>> It's funny because your blog post contradicts my story