Maestro hummed to himself. Things had been hectic, considering. He pulled out the crystalline object he’d pried from Chessmaster that day. He knew this object. The Maestro from Equestria’s memories that had “synced” with him, giving him knowledge of many things- including the history of the family that his family had anthrofied into. This object was special to them, an heirloom of sorts. But how had it gotten to Earth? Why had Chessmaster possessed it? These questions and more clouded his mind. So much so, that he didn’t notice when he bumped into another anthro. He looked up. “Oh sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” He raised an eyebrow, noticing the draconic features of the alicorn. She was a hybrid!
She chuckled. “That’s fine. I’m Tempest Flare, but you can call me Ayumi.”
Maestro sighed in relief, putting away the crystal. “Thank goodness.” He out stretched his right hand. “They call me Maestro Spectrum. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Ayumi shook his hand, and seemed to be in thought. “Maestro Spectrum, huh? Can’t say I’ve heard of you.”
Maestro shrugged as the handshake released. “Most people wouldn’t, seeing as the stories he appears in aren’t very well exposed.”
Ayumi seemed to notice the way Maestro was looking at her. “Say, why are you looking at me like that? Am I that attractive?”
Maestro chuckled. “While you are quite appealing, there's a thestral anthro that I find intriguing.” He relaxed himself. “No, I just find it a tad odd to see a hybrid anthro walking around in broad daylight without some kind of cover for their hybrid features. Then again, you’re an alicorn, so people probably give you a bit of leeway.”
Ayumi tilted her head. “Other hybrids? Do you know if I could meet them? I’d like to get on friendly terms with them.”
Maestro shook his head. “The hybrids I know about have issues with trusting others, even if they so happen to be another hybrid. So I highly doubt you’ll see them in their ‘true state’ so to speak. If you do meet them, you’ll won’t find out about it until they trust you enough. Think of it as a trial of fire.”
Ayumi sighed. “I see… So how do I earn their trust?”
Maestro chuckled. “Oh it’s simple, really. Just get to know them. Spend time with them. You know, be a friend towards them. It may take awhile, but it’ll be worth it in the end, don’t you think?
Ayumi nodded, but then decided there was one thing more that she had to know about them. “How many hybrids, aside from myself, do you know about?”
Maestro straightened out his royal blue vest. “Four. One of each of the ‘big four’ hybrids, as some call them. One Kirin, like yourself. One Batblood, one Taurian, and one Hippogriff.”
For a split second, Ayumi could almost swear that she saw his pupils change into slits. Was that a trick of the light? She smiled. “Thanks for the help. I hope we meet again.”
As Ayumi started walking away she turned around. “Oh by the way I'm not a Kirin: I'm a Dragonoid! We may look the same on the outside, but I learned that Kirin can't shift their forms and unicorn Kirin are weaker in most normal pony magics than their full blood unicorn brethren. Also keep your eyes hidden the weave shows all.”
Maestro seemed surprised. “My eyes? You think you saw something, did you?” He crossed his arms. “Tell me, what did you see with this ‘weave’ of yours, ‘Dragonoid.’ After all, it’s a known fact that pony + dragon = Kirin 50% of the time, not this ‘Dragonoid’ you speak of.” His eyes were set with a doubting look, judging her. If one peered into his thoughts, (not that they could) they would notice that he was certain that he’d kept all his enchantments that altered what he looked like active the whole time he was speaking with her.
Ayumi seemed a bit on edge. Maestro could see it in her eyes. “Well, dragonoids are quite rare, coming in about a 12.5% chance when from a union of pony and dragon. Dragonoids are pony dragon hybrids born with the power level of a Drago Invictus. As for the weave, it’s an ability that sometimes that kicks in for dragonoids, showing the a ‘slice of truth’ as it’s sometimes called though mine is more powerful and lets me see the most likely immediate futures due to my Alicorn DNA.”
Maestro seemed doubtful, but he saw truthfulness in her eyes. He sighed. “You know, you’re wrong about unicorns having weaker magic when they’re a kirin. That study was debunked awhile back.” He shook his head. “So tell me, did this ‘slice of truth’ really show you my eyes?”
Ayumi nodded. “I saw the slits. You’re not quite what you seem, are you?”
Maestro sighed. “I see. So, was that all you saw, or was there more? I’m debating on if I can let you leave without erasing your memory. If you saw too much, I’ll wipe it cleaner that a newly purchased glass pitcher.”
Ayumi shook her head. “No, the slits were all I saw.”
Maestro smirked. “So you didn’t see anything else, huh? That’s good. That means that you still don’t know the truth. After all, slitted pupils can mean many things.” He relaxed. “I’m okay with you knowing about them; most of the others know about them at this point anyway. The only ones that don’t are Rarity, Ashley, and Flora. Though, I plan on showing them soon.”
Ayumi raised an eyebrow. “So what are you, anyway?”
Maestro laughed. “I don’t trust you enough to let you know that just yet.” He looked bemused. “But hey, if you’re lucky, you might learn more soon enough.”
Ayumi was a bit curious about something. “Say, does anyone know about more than just the pupils?”
Maestro nodded. “You know that thestral I spoke about? Well, she and I hit it off pretty well- it’s pretty crazy that I feel that I can trust her with as much as I have. Maybe it’s because she’s the sister of a long-time friend?” He shook his head. “Well whatever it is, I just hope I don’t regret it later.” He then thought of something. “So, immediate futures, eh? Can you do that at will, or does it happen randomly?”
Ayumi was a bit wary, but responded. “Why do you ask?”
Maestro sighed. “I’m just wondering about my half brother, Chessmaster. I really want to get through to him, to show him that Starlight is only looking out for number one.”
Ayumi raised an eyebrow. “Starlight? Is she the one we’re dealing with here?”
Maestro nodded. “She’s the one that makes the most sense, even though it means that the Equestria we’re connected to isn’t in sync with the show.”
Ayumi sighed. “I can only see so far into the future- and even then, I have to concentrate pretty hard to see it.”
Maestro shrugged. “Was worth a shot. Oh well, I never did put much stock into fortune telling anyway, unless it came from my half-sister, Janice.”
Ayumi seemed intrigued. “She’s a fortune teller?”
Maestro chuckled. “It’s sort of a side thing. She’s mainly a jeweler.”
“Does she cut her own gems or does she just insert them in her pieces?” Ayumi asked as she takes a subtle sniff to build up a small amount of flame and bring in this guy’s scent knowing what she did & found his smoky and raw steel like scent intriguing. ‘Huh he smells like either nightmare or a changeling would’
Maestro raised an eyebrow, noting the strange look he was getting. Do I smell strange to her? I took a bath this morning. Maybe she doesn’t like the smell of saffron cologne? “She cuts her own gems- we all do. I use the gems for other things though, such as grinding them up into fine powder and mixing them with paint for ‘special effects.’”
Ayumi seemed intrigued. “Where do you get the gems?”
Maestro sighed. “Dad owned a gem mine over in Africa. It was left to us in his will. We go there about once a year to stock up.” Maestro looked off into the distance. “It certainly won’t be the same without all four of us there together- what with Chessmaster being on the enemy’s side. He never did say what he used the gems for, though.”
Ayumi no longer seemed to be looking at him strangely, which was a good thing. She shook her head. “Perhaps special chess pieces? I wouldn’t know.”
Maestro checked his watch. “Oh snap! I’ve got to go meet somebody down at the Sci Labs. He’ll strangle me for sure if I’m not there!” He looked to Ayumi. “Sorry to cut this short, but priorities. Maybe some other time we could talk again.” He straightened his vest, and smiled. “I’ll be off then!” He then walked into the distance.
Ayumi called out to Maestro, causing him to stop. “Wait! I'll come with you! I've got some chem work set up in the lab anyway so I better check on it.”
Maestro drew himself to his full height of 6’0 in surprise. After all, he was usually slouched just a tad so he could be on eye level with the others. “You want to come along? To be honest, I wouldn’t be going myself if he wasn’t an old friend. I guess it couldn’t hurt for you to meet him, but just be warned: even since he anthrofied about three days ago, he’s been, well… how do I put this? More… eccentric than usual. I guess it’s because he’s always been a bit of a mad scientist, so when he anthrofied, it cranked that aspect of him up to eleven. I’m still unsure as to why. Even the anthros that were once the opposite gender didn’t go through such a change. Not even Flash Sentry! My friend’s adjusted somewhat, so it’s not so bad now, but you should’ve seen him when it first happened. He was trying to cybernetisize me, I’m sure!”
“Cool another scientist for me to talk to. You think your friends mad trust me I'm a mad scientist as well. I spent over a million dollars upgrading the school's lab equipment anyways so he'll probably appreciate me showing up. Oh I guess I forgot to tell you I'm kind of ultra loaded.”
Maestro only raised an eyebrow in response. “A fellow rich kid, huh? Although my fortune’s mostly in CDs gathering interest these days. I don’t like relying on my dad’s money too much, so I tend to just let it gather dust mostly.” He then started to walk to the lab. “Alright then. Let’s get going. It’s not too far from here.”
Ayumi posed a question as they walked. “So this friend of yours, what did he anthrofy into?”
Maestro chuckled. “You would think thestral, since that’s what his sister turned into, but he’s an anthro of an OC that’s usually unrelated to anyone. So, he became an Earth Pony. You might think that odd, seeing as he’s a scientist, but he makes up for his drawbacks with his machines- he’s always been a gearhead, so I was pretty confident as to who he’d become.”
Ayumi raised an eyebrow. “So you knew who he’d become beforehand? How?”
Maestro sighed “I paid quite a bit of attention to the OC circuit after I’d anthrofied. I gave me some idea as to who certain people might become.” They were outside the lab at this point. “So, here we are. Let’s see what he wants from me, shall we?” He opened the door, and allowed Ayumi through first.
“Still kinda surprised that nopony has mentioned my similar looks to Twilight.” Or how I'm already synced with Tempest Flare of Equestria.
Maestro was about to comment on that when a blur of slate gray filled their vision. “Maestro, old buddy! You didn’t tell me that you’d bring company!” The antho’s dark purple eyes glistened, and his chartreuse hair bobbed slightly, matching the movements of his off-white orange tail. He clapped his hands together. “Goody! I can’t wait to test my newest gizmos on her!” His frayed labcoat almost seemed to billow in an unseen wind.
Maestro grabbed his shoulder. “Gearbox, what have I told you about using people as guinea pigs?”
Gearbox rolled his eyes. “Psh! I wasn’t gonna hurt the Twiliclone, honest! Just… Tinker a little.”
Maestro sighed, and rubbed his temples. “It’s somewhat hard to deal with you even since you anthrofied.”
Gearbox crossed his arms. “Well, it’s not exactly my fault, is it? Mari- er, Sarah, as she goes by now- opened her email when I stepped near the computer! Some of that magic seeped out and hit me too! Though, I’m not exactly upset. I’m rather glad, actually.” He then sported a somewhat manic grin. “After all, now I understand Anthro DNA!”
‘Finally’ Ayumi thought to herself. She then spoke aloud. “Hey Gearbox? Do you like the new equipment? I bought it so I could understand alicorn DNA myself, and so that me Twilight and Trixie could practice some of the spells my pony mother sent me.”
Gearbox raised an eyebrow. “So you’re the Miss Dno’oove that sent this new equipment? I really appreciate that. It’s helped me adapt my gadgets to properly work with Anthros. It’s been quite the boon.”
Ayumi smiled. “It’s the least I could do.”
Gearbox grinned. “Anyway, the reason I called Maestro over is because I want him to see my newest gadgets. If you like, you can see them too! I’m quite eager to show them off!”
Ayumi seemed curious. “Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt to take a look.”
Gearbox beckoned, and led them to the depths of the lab. Now on the wall before them was an array of miscellaneous gadgets in a chaotically ordered system. Gearbox grinned. “Behold! My masterpieces!”
Ayumi took a closer look and felt her pendent reacting and her magic started to scan each item independently from her control, “You used some of my blood in these didn’t you?” she asked, her hands alight with black flames “Along with dark magic.”
Gearbox scoffed, pointing to his forehead. “I can’t use dark magic! I’m an Earth Pony!” He then picked one of the machines up, cradling it gently. “And, I can’t have used your blood- there weren’t any samples in the lab. I checked.” He had a smug look on his face. “Are you surprised?”
“Then why is my pendant reacting, and why are the blood samples I placed in the centerfuse and hour ago missing? Black flames on my hands mean only one thing: dark, but non-malevolent magic has been used recently. And before you say you’re an earth pony again, the crystals in the safe box hold all five types of natural magic, including dark magic. Part of my tests was to find a way for anypony to use magic if it can be stored.”
Maestro crossed his arms, giving Gearbox a withering look. “What’d you do this time? Your curiosity has gotten us into another mess, hasn’t it?”
Gearbox scratched the back of his head nervously. “Well, I might have touched the crystals, and I did move the blood to a testing chamber- for scientific purposes, of course! I just didn’t think I’d have any ‘residue’ on my hands when working on the gadgets for final touches!” he sighed. “Guess I should’ve thought things through a little better- my curiosity is quite a distraction for progress on my work.”
Maestro shook his head. “I swear Gearbox, one of these days I might have to save you from your curiosity. It might just get you hurt, or worse- killed.”
“You could’ve asked, dummy. I left my cell number on the side of everything for that reason. Just be glad you used the stable crystals or we would be talking with the principal about how my lab got blown up because somepony got graby.”
Gearbox chuckled mirthlessly. “Heh, I haven’t used my phone much since anthrofying- I just haven’t had the time. I’m sorry about the crystals- I made sure not to drop them, but had something startled me… Well, best not to think about it.” He gathered himself, and went back to cradling one of his machines. “Now, how am I going to get that dark magic residue out of there without taking it apart? Hmm…”
“Don’t I said. “Dark magic can make machines more effective and much more powerful. And my blood works the same as a polyadaptive fluid. Part of being an alicorn and dragonoid.”
Gearbox seemed to contemplate that for a moment. He then turned to Maestro. “Say, do you think your-”
Maestro shook his head. “My blood doesn’t work like that. I may not be a ‘normal’ unicorn, but that doesn’t mean my blood has special properties like that.”
“Well then guess I’ll check on my samples.” i said as i walked away both my flames and magic extinguishing after a certain distance turning my head i activate an ability i called Presence “Gearbox don’t piss either twilight off if you know what’s good for your health”
Gearbox blinked. A voice in his head? He wasn’t a stranger to that. But what was odd was that it was Ayumi’s voice. Okay, is this what telepathy feels like? Because to be honest, it feels… odd. And thanks for the advice, I’ll take it to heart.
“Good I’ll let up on the pressure you can move now” i sent as i let off on my god tier magic pressure and entered the Biospectrum room.
Gearbox took a look at Maestro, who was raising an eyebrow. Maestro spoke. “You okay? You froze for a second there.”
Gearbox looked back to Ayumi, and then back to Maestro. Gearbox nodded. “I’m fine. Just a bit of an odd experience with telepathy, is all.”
Maestro sighed. “Of course it was. It was nice seeing your work. I best be going.”
Gearbox smiled knowingly. “Tell Sarah I said hello.”
Maestro chuckled. “You never seem to leave the lab, so I’ll tell her. Would be nice of you to do it in person every once and awhile.” And with that, Maestro left Gearbox fuming, knowing that it would cause Gearbox to shove his ideas about improving his machines back into the corner of his mind.