//------------------------------// // Xavier Breakthrough Project, Day 11: Uncertain Future // Story: Days in the Mind of One that is Great and Powerful // by The REAL Mister Pkmn //------------------------------// The day starts in the Outback when a strange golden portal opens up. Coming out from the portal are a group of Anthros. The apparent leader, a light gray unicorn, seals up the portal, turning to the rest of his group. “Everyone remember their codenames? We can’t risk altering things too much.” The rest of the group consisted of light orange pegasus, a dark indigo thestral, a dark blue earth pony, a dark yellow griffin, a light purple catfolk, and an ice blue pegasus. The menagerie then sounded off. “Skyreach reporting, Slighthand sir!” “Renddown reporting, sir!” “Mystquake reporting, bro- I mean, sir!” “Hawk-blood reporting, sir!” “Catseye reporting, sir!” “Frigid Temper reporting, boss.” Nodding, “Slighthand” took a commanding pose, his silver mane blowing in the wind. “Alright. You all know your assignments, correct?” At their nods, he smiled. “Good. commence Operation: Assist Heart!” the others broke into salutes, and went off. “Slighthand” looked to where the portal he’d opened had been. “It won’t be long, my friends. We just need to ensure a few things…” He then went off in a different direction than his fellows. The next day after school, Trixie and her group of friends were on their way to the park when they saw Ashley, Twilight, Ayumi, Alex and Daring talking with a new thestral anthro. She had a dark red mane and tail, and blood red eyes. She had black fur, accentuated by her crimson dress. Trixie was baffled by this, but not as baffled as Maestro, who had just come onto the scene. He pointed at the new anthro, and looked a bit agitated. “Who’s this, now? I didn’t see her in my visions…” The anthro noticed the group, and smiled as she introduced herself. “I was once known as Crimson Strings, but you can call me Serine Nocta.” “My Uncle dropped her devouring mirror prison in his haste to get out of the area after a spell of his didn't go of the way he planned it.” Alex said.  “I pulled her out of it and Ashley destroyed it.” Raising an eyebrow, Trixie then shrugged. “Well, as long as she’s on our side…” Glaring at the new thestral, Maestro harrumphed. “I don’t like it. I didn’t see this happening…” He sighed, rolling his shoulders as he relaxed. “Whatever. Time to roll with it, I suppose…” However, Ayumi went up to Maestro. “Before we go, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask you…” Maestro quirked an eyebrow, and motioned for Ayumi to continue. “Do you know of someone known as ‘the Maestro’?” Maestro blinked for a bit, and puzzled about it. His expression lit up. “Yes, actually. Omniversal villain, takes over people whose names were born as ‘Maestro’, and generally all-around bad dude. Don’t know much else, though.” he pauses, regarding Ayumi with a quizzical look. “Why? I mean, it’s not like he could control me anyway. My birth name isn’t Maestro, and the same goes for my pony counterpart. Even if it’s not only people who have their born name be Maestro that he can control, I have a failsafe. Not a very… conventional one, but it should work to defend myself if need be. It even adapts and changes against every attempt to control my mind. So really, there’s no need to worry. I’ll be fine.” That was where Maestro was going to leave it, but Ayumi was still concerned. “Even so, you should open up more. We’re your friends. You can trust us, alright? We deserve more than you’ve given us.” Hearing that, Maestro halted, and the group stopped. He looked somewhat different. Almost… sad. “Do you? Do you think that you could handle the truth? I mean, when you use that weave of yours, and see things, you jump to so many conclusions… and when it turns out that you’re wrong, you apologize, sure. But then you just go and jump to another conclusion later. Do you see me doing that with my visions? Do I assert that I’m right about what I see? No. More often than not, I welcome the idea that I could be wrong. If you want more from me… I need a promise from you. The next time that you see something that concerns me, or seems to, ask me if you’re right before you assert that you’re right. Take into consideration my feelings about what you’re doing, what harm it could do if the information is wrong. Will you promise me this?” “I shall. Again I’m sorry for asserting that my visions are true, that’s never been my intention, The Weave shows me multiple futures all at once and the ones I see the clearest usually have some truth to them or are a warning of what may come to pass.” Ayumi looked down as a few tears slid down her cheeks. “I’m still learning to not let what I see influence my actions as much, but as you have witnessed I’m not far into that training.” Maestro was a little stunned. He’d half expected her to not be able to make such a promise… Maybe he’d judged her too quickly. Even so, what more could he safely trust them with? He’d told them a fair amount already… He thought about it a bit, then sighed. He started walking towards the park. “Listen. I… I’ll tell you more in a little while. Just… Let’s see how Xavier’s progress goes today, then… I’ll tell you a little more.” The group followed in silence, leaving Maestro to his thoughts. I could tell them about why it’s hard for my family to trust others… that should be safe enough. Anything beyond that… is too risky to tell them. They may be my friends now, but if they knew the full truth at this point… I’ve seen what they’d do with 100% accuracy. No other future exists for if I told them everything. They’d turn on me. I’ve seen this one and only set in stone future for if I tell them now. That’s why it must remain hidden, for now. He turned his attention to Serine. As for her… she’s not supposed to even be here. A misstep. I’ve heard things about her past. The Nightmare mode she has, and what it did. The others don’t seem to care that she’s done horrendous things, or don’t seem to know. If they do know, they probably are giving her a ‘chance’, to show that she’s ‘changed’. I still don’t like that she’s here. I didn’t see her among the players on the field when all comes to a close… Perhaps there is a way to… he shook his head. No. If I sealed her back in a mirror, they’d just get angry. I don’t need to use my visions to see that a mile away. I’ll let her be, for now. But if she crosses that line again… She’ll get exactly what she deserves. The group soon came to the park, and saw that Xavier was waiting. The others that were necessary were already there as well- that being Kim and Natalie. Xavier raised an eyebrow when he saw Serine. “You’re new. But also… ancient.” he closed his eyes for a moment, smiling sadly. “Ah. A lost soul, long forgotten. Far from the time she was meant to live in, cursed to die in a time where most have forgotten her. How… tragic.” He shook his head. “The spirits would welcome you, but I still see that you have much to live for. You are not ready to rest.” Puzzled, Serine regarded Xavier. “Spirits? You can hear the departed?” Xavier shrugged. “More or less. It’s hard to focus on specific ones unless they are closely related to me, however. The further away the relation, the harder it is to make the connection.” He looked a bit regretful. “Sorry that it’s not of much use to you.” He then regarded the rest of them. Before he could continue however, Clyde came into the area. He looked around, as if looking for something, or somebody. As he did, he drew close to the others, and they noticed he had a more… serious look on his face. Concerned, Maestro grabbed his shoulder. He then brought his eyes around, so they were looking at him. “What’s gotten into you? You seem… worried.” However, Clyde did not calm down. He was more than worried. Stressed was more like it. “I’ve got not time for this! I need to ‘choose one’, before it’s too late! Oh, but… how can I choose...:?” Throttling him a little, Maestro yelled at him. “Pull yourself together! What’s going on? Who told you to ‘choose’?” The sound of wings filled the air, cutting off a response. They looked to the sky, and saw a light orange pegasus anthro descend, a serious look in his maroon eyes. His white mane flowed gently as he touched ground. “I did. It’s best he make haste, honestly. There’s not much time left.” One of Maestro’s eyes twitched. Who does this joker think he is? I didn’t see him in my visions either! What’s going on?!? He hated this feeling, this uncertainty. This player wasn’t even supposed to exist! He knew what to ask. “Just who are you, huh? What makes it right for you to go frightening Clyde into an early mid-life crisis?” The unexpected anthro bowed slightly. “My apologies. I only did what I thought would get results. As for who I am, you may call me Skyreach. It’s an honor to meet you, Maestro Spectrum.” Jackpot! Now that he had a name from this joker, Maestro knew what to do next. Time to see what these people have changed…. He focused, pushing away all distractions. He reached out for the future, determined to see how mucked up they’d made it with their presence. He needed to know. C’mon… Almost there…. Show me the possibilities! But, as he reached out, something unprecedented happened. He saw so many images flash before his eyes, unconnected, unorganized. The futures that he’d seen before were in there somewhere, he just couldn’t find them. But as he tried pushing a little further, a voice sounded in his head. The Future is now Uncertain. There is nothing concrete anymore. Begone. Maestro was thrown back a bit, and was caught by Sarah, who had just arrived. He clutched his head in pain, the most pain he’d ever felt in his life. He looked to “Skyreach”, then to Serine. The presence of two unpredicted wild cards has changed this much?!? Or are there more players on the field that are changing things? This has never happened before… Sighing, “Skyreach” shook his head. “I see now that you’ve tried looking into me… and it’s given you quite the shock. Not to worry, though. My compatriots and I are here on a noble quest, one that does not interfere with what you need do. Rather, you shall find our quest to be quite bolstering to yours.” He noticed Ayumi, and chuckled at her failure to see the future with her weave. “You think you could see, when Maestro was denied? How delusional.” He looked to Clyde. “As for you… I’m sorry if I pressured you too much. You still must choose one, but not right away. Test your options, then judge for yourself which is the right fit. You’ll know when you’ve found the right fit.” He turned to the rest of the group. “You will probably meet my compatriots later- and quite a meeting it will be. It’s too bad that I didn’t meet Chessmaster or Brianna, but… oh well.” He shrugged. “My compatriots are as follows: ‘Renddown’ the thestral, ‘Mystquake’ the earth pony, ‘Hawk-blood’ the griffin, ‘Catseye’ the catfolk, ‘Frigid Temper’ a fellow pegasus, and our leader ‘Slighthand’ the unicorn. We have other compatriots, but they could not join us as of yet. There were... issues... with our transportation.” The group was unsure as to who this anthro was and what his intentions were- He seemed cordial, but… what exactly were he and his compatriots up to? They looked to Ayumi, who seemed a little miffed at “Skyreach”’s earlier gibe. They then looked to Maestro, who had recently pushed through the pain. He seemed oddly calm as he looked to “Skyreach”, but still a bit anxious. He sighed. “You… I don’t know exactly why you’re here, or who you are… but something about you makes it impossible for me to not trust that you meant what you said. I don’t know who you are, kid, but… You seem like a good one to me. I don’t know what it is, but… I just got this gut feeling, telling me that you’re trustworthy.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s your similarities to somebody I know. Who can say for sure?” He then had a serious look as his eyes locked with “Skyreach”’s. “Just don’t prove me wrong, and we’ll have no problem. Alright?” at “Skyreach”’s nod, he turned to the others. “Alright. Leave him be. We’ve got work to do.” Puzzled at Maestro’s odd behavior, Ayumi voiced her concern. “Wait, why do you trust him? You barely know him! What’s he got that we don’t?” Pausing, Maestro considered it for a moment. He then shrugged. “Don’t know. Just… feels right. I feel that I could trust him with practically anything- and the thought strangely doesn’t give me chills. I may have been surprised when he showed up, and a bit angry at what he did to Clyde, but as he explained… I couldn’t help but feel that he was sincere. It may seem that I’m putting an awful lot of faith in this stranger- and I suppose you would have a point. But something, deep in my soul, tells me that he’s no stranger. That I… know him, somehow. I know that probably doesn’t make much sense, but it’s the only way that I can explain it.” Looking from Maestro to “Skyreach”, Xavier tried to deduce why this was the case. After all, Maestro had said he didn’t know him, yet knew him at the same time. After a while of trying to puzzle it out and finding that it was still not apparent, he decided to let it drop for now as “Skyreach” went on his way. “I understand.” Ayumi said surprising Maestro. “I may seem happy go lucky, but I’m actually terrified of losing those I trust. It’s why I push for more friends, it’s why Pinkie does so as well.” Maestro knew Ayumi’s intentions, but it wouldn‘t help him open up any faster. He’d already said he’d tell her and the others more later. He collected himself, and turned to Xavier. “That’s all well and good, but I think we should move to the task at hand.” Taking the hint, Ashley stepped forward along with Rae. They were soon alongside Kim and Natalie, and shortly discussed who should take the reigns first. It was soon evident who was given the privilege as Rae made the first case. “You know how I tend to be up front and open with my thoughts? How I don’t believe in sugar-coating unless it seems necessary? There was an instance with an anger management class that could’ve changed everything. During this period, I was following the advice of a surprisingly good anger coach. His advice of letting things not get to me, and to hold my opinions more often at least seemed to be helpful for a while. That is, until my friends opened my eyes to what my new lease on life was doing to those around me, even my younger brother. They confronted the ‘coach’, and it was revealed that he had hypnotized me into ‘bypassing’ my anger, turning anything that would anger me into something that made me happy. However, they did manage to get that reversed, and I was back to my old self. There was a lot of regret as I, under the hypnotism, had sugar-coated so many things that it had worried and/or offended those that knew me. The ties were restored eventually, but that was due to tireless effort. I grew from this experience, and while my friends are used to my blunt nature, I’ve grown accustomed to being a bit more… gentle with the truth when talking to those that are not used to me. Still don’t sugar coat completely, though. It’s not who I am.” Xavier could understand why she had related this story to him. This was basically a cautionary tale about too much sugar coating… possibly also about trusting implicitly? Though he’d nothing to worry about in that area. He nodded his head, signalling that he’d gotten the gist of it. “Too much of anything can be bad, if the cards line up in just the correct way. So, what else is there to honesty? Making sure you don’t sugar coat everything is a good pursuit, but how can one truly judge who can handle full bluntness? Is it even quantifiable?” Trying to answer his query, Ashley thought about it. After some consideration, she felt she might have a good answer. “It’s certainly not easy to tell, Ah’ll admit. With friends, it’s easier to tell who can handle bluntness, an’ to what degree. But with those you don’t know well, it’s nigh impossible to tell without trial and error. The best option would be to err on the side of caution with strangers, trying to find a middle ground between full on bluntness and nigh-on leaving out too much in order to spare feelings. It’s not something easily found, but it’s worth trying for.” There was more to it than that, Xavier was sure of that. But what exactly was there left to say? He was uncertain, so he asked another question. “The key, I suspect, is to try and ensure that you’ve got the most accurate information you can, right? It’s fine to admit when you don’t have all the answers, or the full scope of a given situation. But… even if you tell the truth, how can you expect others to trust that you’re being honest with them?” Having anticipated that he might ask this, Kim did her best to give him an answer. “The feat is easier with those close to you, though rare exceptions may shine through. It may seem impossible to influence this as all see, but reputation of your actions being in line with trustworthiness is key. With somebody like you who is trying to change, it’d be hard for your reputation to rearrange. Much effort will need to be put forth, question is: how much is that change worth?” Xavier sighed. It wouldn’t be easy, of course. That was to be expected. He did have a little leeway though, seeing as most people in this city hadn’t heard much about him. What was honesty worth, though? He’d heard many differing opinions over the years, and he’d been convinced for the longest time that it was worthless. Yet now, things had changed for him. He looked to Natalie, deep in thought. He then addressed her. “Truth be told, I think I understand better now. But… there is something I must ask. If you had to lie to save your friend, if there was literally no other way, would you? Or, would you tell the truth anyway, knowing that you may not see them again for a long time? Which choice is the right one?” Considering the question for a moment, Natalie tried to figure out an objective solution. However, the more she thought about it, the less simple the question became. She eventually reached a conclusion, and resigned herself to it. “It’s not that simple, Xavier. There are many factors that can change the answer on a dime; there is no ‘objectively right’ decision here. Make no mistake, lying is not a good thing. But if your friend is being accused of something you know that they didn’t do, and you have no other information as to what could’ve happened, you should do all you can to help them. However, there are cases where the correct answer is to tell the truth. Your friend might feel betrayed at first, but they will understand soon enough. This question is far from an easy one, with no universal answer. The best you can do is ascertain which situation you’re in, and act accordingly.” Seeming to understand, Xavier nodded his head. He’d figured things couldn’t actually be simple. He’d known Natalie would be the one to best describe the nuances. It was one of the things he appreciated about her. He looked to the others that had paid attention, seeing that some of them hadn’t quite gotten it. He shrugged, reasoning it was to be expected. He was about to leave, but noticed that everyone in the current area had turned their attention to Maestro. He shrugged, and decided to stick around, to see where this led. Hands clasped behind his back, Maestro was facing away from all of them. He’d said that he’d do this, but… that didn’t make it any easier. He looked to Sarah for support, seeing as she already knew what he was going to say. She opted to only nod with a smile, knowing that that was all he would need. Steeling himself, Maestro turned to the group. It was the largest congregation he’d aired something like this to. This was worlds different from selling his art, that was for sure. He noticed that Natalie was a bit concerned, as she had a right to be. Regardless, Maestro knew that they were waiting- and so, he gave them what he felt he could trust them with. “All of you here know that I, along with my family, have issues with trusting people. The reason… well, it’s not exactly pleasant. There was a time, long ago that my family were widespread, and known for our trust in the good of people’s hearts. However, there was one who wished to see us fall, to see our clan crumble. He was the brother of the one who established our Clan, and he was roth with his brother for taking the woman he’d planned to marry. However, the leader of our clan insisted that he meant no harm, and that he could not control who the woman had chosen. He said that their bond was one of love, but the brother was having none of it. So, he spread misinformation about our clan, how we had ‘dark ties’ because of our stunning health for the era. There were many other lies he spread about the clan of his brother, out of his anger and jealousy. Even so, the leader of our clan could not hate his brother. In a desperate bid to save his relationship with his brother, our leader offered to let go of the woman that both of them loved, and allow her to choose between the two of them. Begrudgingly, his brother agreed, and the test was set. The woman was given a blindfold, and each brother was set an equal distance away from her. The woman was told to find the one she loved in the dark… and she did. This made the brother even more furious, and he attacked. The leader could not allow this to stand, and fought off his brother. The battle went on until the brother was defeated, but he vowed that it was only the beginning of the clan’s troubles. He was right. In the first few decades after that confrontation, our family was beset by traitors, liars, money grubbers, brutes, cynics, and all sorts of ill-willed folk, all intent on the very same thing that the leader’s brother had been after- the destruction or discrediting of our family. After hard lessons in what the world could be, we could’ve become just like them; the worst of the worst. But our choice overall was to put those around us through a collective ‘trial of fire’, in which only those most worthy of our trust would be allowed to join the family. We refused to give up hope in the good in the souls of others- we just decided to test how strong those portions were in others before letting them in. This tradition is so ingrained in us, that it’s become second nature. That is why I’ve given you all a hard time- It’s tradition.” He adjusted his glasses with his magic. “Any questions?” “Yes.” Alex said. “Do you realize that tradition may have become a weakness?” At this, Maestro tightened his grip on the crystal in his pocket for a moment. However, the moment ended as quickly as it had begun. He sighed, and looked across them. There was one in the audience that he’d felt didn’t deserve to hear what he’d said to his friends, but Serine hadn’t left before he’d told them. He glared at her a moment, then saw her confused look. He shook his head. She hadn’t gotten more than the others had out of it, thank goodness. If she of all people knew the full truth… he shuddered to think about the results. He turned back to look at Alex. “A weakness, you say? Perhaps. Yet, you must understand- This is no easy thing, pushing past something so ingrained in me. It has been our saving grace in the past, and still serves us well. Maybe in a perfect world, we would have no need of it, but alas, ‘tis not the case. The world is far from perfect. I promise nothing in regards to making it easier, for it’s a promise I would likely break. I’d rather not make a promise I can’t keep. I do hope that you can understand, as the heir to father’s legacy, he raised me to be quite stubborn, especially about this.” An odd silence descended as they digested what Maestro had said. There was much that they were certain he was still withholding from them- but they doubted they could get anything else out of him for the next while. Even so, they did have a new understanding of Maestro, and that was what was important. It had been a long day, so the group once again went their separate ways, except for two. Maestro was about to leave, but Serine had a question. “Why did you glare at me earlier? What’s up with that?” Pausing for a moment, Maestro considered his options. She really doesn’t know, does she? It seems that she’s not quite as sharp as I was told… He shook his head. Even so, he had to be careful with his answers around her, given what he knew of her past. He opted to give her the truth- what she deserved of it, anyway. “Listen. I don’t trust you. I know the darkness of your past, Crimson Strings, even the things that you’re still hiding from them. You may want to play ‘friend’ with them for now, but let me warn you right now:” He narrowed his eyes at her. “If you lapse back, and they get hurt? You’ll never escape the mirror that I’ll put you in. Capiche?” Serine  could only nod dumbly in shock. Maestro sighed. “Good.” With nary another word, he teleported away. Maestro arrived in his workshop, and started losing himself in his work. It helped him deal with troubling thoughts, and today there were a lot to work though. Firstly, that Serine girl. The others didn’t know the extent of her monstrous behavior. He knew what she’d done. To innocents, no less! The others were willing to extend a hand of forgiveness, despite not knowing the full extent. He was going to be cautious about her, however. After all, somebody had to have a bit of sense around here. Then there was his attempt to see the future after “Skyreach” came into the picture. That troubled him deeply, as such a thing had never occurred before. What did it mean? Was the future truly in such flux to be completely unpredictable? He couldn’t check again for a while, though. He was still reeling from the attempt earlier today, after all. However, the most concerning thing, however… Cacophony. He was far more chatty now, especially after he influenced Maestro’s threatening of Serine. He frowned deeply. Cacophony Chromium had always been there, ever since his anthrofication all those years ago. He was the option that had tempted Josephus with power, vengeance, and more. However, since the offer was ignored by his anthrofication into Maestro, Cacophony decided to hitchhike a ride anyway. Maestro shook his head as he pushed away another conversation with his own darkness. He refused to let it control him. He focused on his work, a unique piece that was not quite finished. He chipped away gently at the stone, carefully crafting it. He nodded as it started to look more in line with his vision of the design. However, it wasn’t quite ready. He still needed a few things...