Locksmith

by QuartzScale


45. Rainstorm

Talk was still buzzing around town of the mysterious pony who defeated the large monster that struck town with several rumors bounding out of nowhere. Some said that the pony was stronger than even the princesses able to shrug off wounds like a god. Others called them a mage unlike any others able to cross the bounds of life and death and control the flow of magic with their bare hooves. A few said that he was a stallion who would take mares on adventures that would fill her heart with more than just excitement. Sunshower had to physically restrain herself from laughing about everything that was happening. While she had gotten the week off for personal reasons and that Rainbow Dash was sufficient enough to deal with the weather of Ponyville most of the time even with her sleep habits she was forced to come in for the day of the rainstorm to help with some of the clouds.

It had been an eventful yesterday since Gray had been stuck on the couch recovering from his fight with the Storm Rider as he called it though the exasperation everypony was feeling that they couldn’t contribute just yet had reached their hearts. While they weren’t all hounded by press and didn’t know how to handle it most of the time she wanted to be there with him fighting those heartless that showed up. It was her town as well and her love on the line as well. After Gray had left through the shadows they had come to an agreement on some things. They couldn’t stop him from adventuring all the time.

Vinyl had argued that they were more than sufficient enough to deal with his adventurous spirit though as their roll in the hay proved… he could outlast them on virtue of being creative. Even exhausted he managed not only to get them all asleep he had cleaned the basement completely so that no sign of their romp was left. It had taken Octavia and Fresh Coat a while to clean up the bedroom. Sunshower knew next time her and Vinyl would have to handle the clean up… something she didn’t relish.

“Ugh… I wish this day was over already…” Sunshower mumbled as she moved another cloud into place. Below everypony was hard at work getting everything pruned and tied down. The rainstorm was going to be a doozy and would hit in a few hours.

Sunshower looked down at everypony and noticed a strange stallion walking through town. Most of the time she wouldn’t notice but this one was distinct in the long flowing beard that was hanging from his chin. It was familiar but something she couldn’t place her hoof on. Ignoring it she looked around for more interesting stories as Rarity and Applejack were once again arguing about the ways to handle trees. This was their third tree. Sunshower rolled her eyes and continued with her job.


Vinyl, Octavia and Fresh Coat were getting things settled in their home. Fresh and Vinyl had spent several hours prepping the windows for the constant gale of wind that would strike the house for the rest of the night though even they knew it wouldn’t be that bad. Still they were spending the night together at another home so it was plainly in their best interest. Octavia had played with the idea about moving into one home but she knew at only a month it was far too soon for something of that magnitude. They had barely started sleeping together and they were still under dating etiquette. Vinyl, of course, immediately suggested other racy topics they could perform which she bopped her on the head for.

“Do you have everything ready Vinyl?” Octavia called out as she packed up her extra cello in its case. She was going to get some practice in while the rain fell.

“Yeah Tavi! I got everything I need.” Vinyl answered back while carrying her headphones and a small pad of paper which she wrote her ideas for new songs on. It was rare but even she thought up some lyrical masterpieces… in her own words. “Fresh do you have things too?”

“Only a bit!” Fresh cried out as she packed up a small easel and her sketch book. She still hadn’t had time to get herself more paint supplies but her memory still vividly went back to everything she saw back in the Lost Empire.

“Okay ladies. Let’s head back before the rain gets out of control.” Octavia hefted her cello on her back finding it very easy to actually carry it now.

All the girls found it easier to do things now. Even hard activities that they normally couldn’t do were much easier to handle. Octavia had moved several pieces of furniture by using only one hoof and had to compensate for how much strength she was putting into it. While their physical strength was growing Vinyl and Fresh noticed that their unicorn magic was still the same. The magic they performed with their keyblades, on the other hoof, was much stronger. There was a growing disparity and curiosity nipped at their fetlocks and coronets.

They rushed out of the house and trotted off for their temporary rest stop for the rain that was to come. Vinyl rushed ahead leading the troops while Octavia handled the rear making sure to lock the door behind them. Nopony noticed the blue unicorn stallion following after them.


Redheart had stopped at her apartment earlier that morning after finishing her shift. She had lounged about for a while with Tenderheart gossiping about her night. When the topic of a herd came up Tenderheart immediately grabbed onto it pushing the mare into anything that happened. She couldn’t pry the information out of Redheart though since everytime she would be brought back to that night she would clam up and turn impossibly red.

“C’mon Red. Ya gotta tell me something.” Tenderheart begged to be told some juicy stories of illicit goings of ponies.

“Oh Tender c’mon already. I can’t tell you much about these things. Besides what would Rarity say?” Redheart prodded Tenderheart slightly who pouted in response.

“A lady never kisses and tells.” Tenderheart sighed as she growled out. “Don’t we always hear how disappointing her dates are though. I mean seriously how hard is it to find somepony to be with?”

“Remember she’s also gung ho about finding perfection…” Redheart rolled her eyes while she cringed at the word perfection.

Perfection, on the whole, didn’t exist in anything in the world. While Princess Celestia might have been the exception those rumors of her cake obsession made her just as equine as everypony else. When she went out into space she found even more immortal beings in a sense. They had become so set in their ways that stagnation was their only reward. Medical knowledge was more advanced in Ponyville than it was there. She had asked Gray about it and became enamored with the thought of gene therapy actually helping to get rid of genetic diseases though it was only in the opening stages of research… something that wouldn’t reach Equestria for years at this point.

When she had asked why he would say anything he answered glibly with an ‘actions have consequences’ reason. It wasn’t sufficient of an answer but it did explain a lot of things on why he did what he did. The rumors going around town and all the attention would mean Gray would have had no time for any of them. It wasn’t hard to understand why he did what he did now but she wanted to make some progress for Equestria eventually. The problem came in how to present the information. She was just a nurse… one of many in Ponyville who lived an average boring life in an admittedly dangerous place. It was something not thought of most the time with the proximity to the Everfree Forest.

A part of her wished that Merlin was on Equestria. From her conversation she knew he knew more than anyone on Equestria would ever know barring maybe the princesses as well. Maybe if she was clever she could convince both him and Merlin to trickle in information to Equestria’s medical knowledge.

“Red are you thinking about your new stallion crush?” Tenderheart gave a mischievous smile as she prodded her. Redheart blushed a heavy shade of red but managed to keep her composure.

“Look I got to get going for tonight. You’ll be good for tonight?” Redheart gripped Tenderheart’s hoof squeezing it slightly.

It wasn’t often but they acted more like sisters most of the time though both would deny it if only because they didn’t want others to lump them together. It was this goofy thing of theirs but it was their thing. Tenderheart merely giggled at the thought.
“I’ll be fine. Coldheart is coming over to hang out for the night. You go ahead and ride that pony all night long.” Tenderheart teased relentlessly while Redheart walked out of the building trying her best not to reveal how red she got. Redheart raced down the stairs closing the door behind her avoiding Coldheart who merely chuckled when she noticed how red she was.

Off in the distance she saw Octavia, Vinyl and Fresh Coat making their way towards Gray’s home and quickly trotted off to join them glad that she had kept her saddlebags with her the entire time she sat down. Within moments she joined the others with general aplomb in all their attitudes still not noticing the stallion behind them. Noticing the others, Sunshower flew down as well taking her spot with the others.


Spitfire was lying down on the couch finally enjoying her rest time. While she knew that she needed to keep flying to keep her wings strong but the time in the Lost Empire had strengthened her in ways she never realized. There were several things she had realized now as she lay on top of Gray as he laid on his back on the couch. He was still a bit sore so she couldn’t exactly do what she really wanted to do but it was fine. She slowly turned as to not cause him problems since he was still sleeping.

While his left hoof was popped in the fatigue from the pain was still causing him to sleep for a while longer. It had been two days since the heartless had tried to attack the town and Gray had stepped in to destroy it. Spitfire while not vocal about it found it to be pretty cool… she didn’t immediately want him to mount her right then and there because he was turning out to be a decently strong mate and proven to be looking out for ponies no matter the cost.

When she looked up to his face he was still asleep. The day before they had gone out of their way to Canterlot to sell some of the jewelry he had Stiltzkin had made to sell. When they met with Shiny Baubles and showed him the new jewelry. His eyes had bulged out of his head and the bartering started at that point. They knew Baubles was going to be cheap and with Gray only having nine hundred and twenty bits left they would need enough for him to be financially prepared.

Spitfire looked around noting that several nobles had multiple hoof rings made of lucid shards and dark shards. When the necklaces were brought out Baubles immediately wanted them for four hundred bits each. Gray managed to get them up to five hundred and fifty bits. Baubles was actually good for it in fact due to selling the Lucid Rings and Dark Rings for much more than he had paid for back then. He was over two thousand bits richer and after the rings were sold for eighty bits each he walked out four thousand six hundred bits richer.

Gray didn’t care if he was ripped off which surprised Spitfire and when she asked there was only one thing he said to her.

‘I don’t need bits for anything more than rent and all of you. I’m happy with what I have.’

Spitfire nuzzled into Gray’s chest taking a deep breath and taking in his scent just because she could. He cared more about them than being paid fairly. The bits were only being used to keep what he considered his family safe.

It had been a few weeks already since all their adventure even though only two weeks had passed in Ponyville. Spitfire had noted that there were moments where he would stare at them with a melancholic longing look but a few times his eyes would glaze over. She wasn’t the only one to notice and everypony in the herd noted that there were several times that he would be lost in his memories. Even though they noted that he was fine most of the time the moments where he stopped talking and looked off into space worried them.

Spitfire knew the signs of PTSD and there were moments that they were worried that he would react poorly but something kept him stable throughout those moments. Redheart was uncertain about the severity that afflicted him but they would try to be there for him no matter what. As she looked up at his face he was sleeping peacefully which made her think twice about their unprofessional diagnosis. Regardless she would be keeping an eye on him throughout their adventures. Even though she didn’t have as much strength as Octavia and Redheart showed she was still the most combat capable and did have a way to take down Gray should he become a danger to himself and others.

Yawning slightly she quietly peered around the room and tilted her ears back and forth. While she couldn’t exactly look throughout town because of her celebrity status and the fact that she was sure she had fanatics somewhere in town she still enjoyed the quiet from time to time. It was a small part of her happiness to have some time to relax but her love for leading would never escape. Realizing that she still had some alone time she cuddled into Gray’s chest getting him to wrap his arms even tighter against her.

‘Now just use your wings to angle them just right…’ Spitfire smugly grinned as her wings slowly lowered his hooves to her flank until a knock at the door caused him to wake up. Disappointed, she stopped her wings and slowly got up to let the now awake Gray get up.


“Slept too long… Something wrong Spitfire?”

“No nothing at all.” Spitfire spoke through gritted teeth and a forced smile.

I didn’t really believe her that much. Even asleep I trained myself to wake up at a moment’s notice including the long hours of no sleep that sometimes came from performing several stake outs. I could feel my front hooves being dragged down a pegasus’ body. Instead of dancing around the issue I decided to take actions mostly because I don’t like small talk that circles back on itself because somebody doesn’t want to speak.

I jumped on the couch and pinned Spitfire down taking her completely by surprised as I forced her into a kiss. Something I learned from our date together is that from time to time Spitfire enjoys when somepony actually takes control from her. It’s subtle enough that I almost didn’t notice until after I had pinned her down the first time… though that time she took control back within seconds. While kissing her I noticed her hooves trailing down my back when another knock came to the door. Slowly letting her back up her blushing face tried to vainly not look me in the eye.

“Tease…” Spitfire muttered.

“You know… I could feel somepony moving my arms a lot.”

That got her to blush even harder. After chuckling at the incident I went to the front door and let in all the girls who took their spots on the couch while Vinyl and Sunshower took kitchen duty helping themselves to making some food for the long night of rain. When I was about to close the door I noticed the stallion still walking up to my door… he looked very familiar.

“Need help there? Wait… Merlin?”

The stallion looked up and with a small smirk he nodded and I was floored. Literally, my flank hit the ground in disbelief.

“Sorry to bother you so late but I’ve come to discuss some things with you before you head off for your next adventure.” Merlin intoned in the same scholarly voice he held during his lectures on magic for the ladies.

“Of course. Come in, come in.”

After entering several of the mares looked utterly confused which got Vinyl and Sunshower to come out of the kitchen.

“It’s Merlin.”

“Merlin? But you’re a pony?” Octavia motioned her hoof over all of him.

“So is this magic your specialty?” Fresh Coat inquired.

“Where’s your awesome hat?” Vinyl called out from the kitchen as she watched the food cook.

“All good questions but I think it’s more important I answer why I’m here first.” Merlin chuckled at their calm demeanor throughout the entire visit.

“That does seem like a good place to start. “ Redheart coughed politely to curb the already enthusiasm that several of the others were already showing… including her own.

“Well this is the tricky part. I had to come to deal with something strange happening to this planet. A few days ago a small gash was made in the veil that keeps this world from being invaded by the heartless. We didn’t know what caused it at the time but after your battle a few days ago I’ve found something strange. Do these look familiar?” Merlin asked as he pulled out several crystal shards.

The crystal shards were all blue with glowing orange crack coursing throughout the crystal. It was… familiar. Too familiar in fact.

“Those look like the shards of crystal that Rourke’s body was made of before he exploded from spinning fan blade.” Sunshower piped up stopping me from saying anything.

“So they are. I found them here on this world.” Merlin spoke gravely allowing the message to hit their target as everypony immediately tensed up.

“What- what were they doing here?” Fresh Coat brought up first causing everypony to realize the breath they didn’t realize that they were holding in.

“From my research and findings they were used to open the veil at least for a while before the magic holding them together faded and scattered to the wind. The problem is that they are uncorrupted. There was no dark magic used at all during their creation. All I can sense from them is the last vestiges of light magic used to purify them and then crack open a hole for a heartless to get through.” Merlin gravely explained.

“Wait a minute. You’re telling us that the reason that heartless managed to break into Equestria without somepony evil around is because light magic, the good kind of magic, was used to break them in?” Spitfire summarized not seeming to believe what she was hearing.

“Ah I see I must explain something a bit more in depth on magic. Light magic is not good just as dark magic is not evil. Magic is magic and there is no difference between the two. Both are used and harnessed for their own means. The thought of using magic to harm another makes that casting of that spell evil. While there are more profane means of magic with much more dire requirements there is no such thing as good and evil when it comes to magic unless there is intent behind it.” Merlin clarified for everypony aside from myself.

Equestria was a world where there were no shades of gray throughout its history. There was good and there was evil but there was rarely anything in between. Even I wasn’t exactly the shining example of it even if I was technically more in tune with darkness rather than light. I fought the darkness with darkness and light in tandem. Everypony else was looking a bit confused by the sudden shift in their worldviews which left them all lost in their rationalizations.

“That’s not possible… is it?” Spitfire coughed out still reeling from that information.

“You must understand that all things in any world regardless of where they are or who they are light and dark are just what they are. The only way something gets put as evil is when someone regardless of who they are decides to make it evil. How you use something determines how it gets labeled as. It’s easy to say something is evil because the power is intoxicating and while there are things that can do evil it doesn’t mean all of them are. The moment you can’t say no dictates when a power is evil.” Merlin lectured on causing everypony to look even more lost.

“As I’ve told you before the world is much more difficult than it seems and continually surprises me whenever something of that caliber appears. Back when I was something other than what I am now the world was a constant shade of greys that had no end. While there was love, camaraderie, even friendship; there was also hate, betrayal, and enemies. No one person was even completely good or completely evil. There were no light actions or dark actions there were just actions to be taken that were beneficial for others as well. Subjectivity is the key most of the time when I was out on my job as a cop.”

“Can you give us an example… just for clarification.” Octavia nervously asked.

“I can… but do you really want to know that. The assignment was not one to be spoken of lightly. I didn’t like the outcome.”

“Come on dude… it can’t be that bad.” Vinyl came in levitating several bowls of food. “Right?”

“Fine… I warned you before hoof… Perhaps you wanna eat before I speak?”

There were no takers and Merlin certainly wasn’t voicing his complaints. I sighed and cursed under my breath because of their decisions. It was going to be a very long night.

“It was the first year after I finally earned the detective position and I was given my first case to prove myself. My mentor, the Head Detective and Sergeant of the police force, was there to guide me along the way. We had received several tips about children in the area being abducted which was always a good sign to hear.”

While the anger on my tone was clear I did note that all ponies were gasping at that revelation. Merlin made no sound of dissent merely listening. I hated this first case so much… it was overly complicated and I had to keep going through with it.

“Anyways… we found out that there were several kids being held at this small fish market that doubled as a home for some guy… I don’t remember his name since it happened over five years ago now… who had taken several random kids with no ransom note or even motive for his cause. When we found them they were actually well taken care of and had been given food and water. To make a long story short he was actually searching for his son who his ex-wife placed into adoption for reasons beyond my understanding. The family he was taken to was… abusive to put it bluntly and he was saved from it. The other kids were a smokescreen for his crime because he had already tried to sue for his child back but the ex-wife was stonewalling him at every step. So he took matters into his own hands.”

“What did you do…?” Sunshower cautiously asked. I think she knew though.

“I followed the law… had to arrest him. While he had good intentions he still did it in a way that caused more problems than it solved. Hence why I say it was more a shade of grey rather than a black and white view where I’m from. It was probably the beginning of my… I guess I could say devil may care attitude. It slowly waned as I continued working. When I got here I managed to build it back up to a respectable level while I’m… what’s the best word for what we do… freelance I guess.”

The ladies all seemed a bit taken aback by that. I’ll admit that I cleaned it up a lot from the truth, I didn’t want to tell the truth. When it came to my past I cleaned it up entirely when detailing my cases. That first case didn’t go as well as I spoke it did. The guy was a nut and ended up killing the children that weren’t his until he found the right one. I could tell Merlin knew I was lying but said nothing about it. From his gaze I could already tell he was looking at the ponies with pity. Each of them were processing the idea that not everyone they would meet would be entirely good or entirely evil. Self serving was rare in ponies that weren’t the snobbish nobility at least from what I’ve seen.

“I mean I kind of figured that this was probably a thing… but to hear about it so bluntly… Does this mean the same for those guys we met back in Atlantis?” Spitfire grunted in confusion as she looked back on everything that happened.

“In a sense. They were working for money and nothing else. Because of Milo they found their morality and decided to help instead. I consider them good people regardless of how they started.”

“Huh… That does make sense after everything I saw of them… It makes a whole bunch more sense now.” Octavia pondered as she rubbed a hoof against her chin in a slightly dignified way.

While our discussion on morality and how it affected everypony continued we ate in relative peace while the storm continued thundering outside. Apparently Sunshower took some precaution and bought a magical lightning rod to keep the house from getting hit. She had placed it after I had gone to sell the jewelry with Spitfire. Merlin answered some concerns everypony had while we ate including on how to spread medical knowledge a bit more evenly so as to not overwhelm the society they had already built up. Magical cures were the norm with only the barest of surgical procedures being shown within town when I had asked Redheart after she had finished her shift yesterday.

“Perhaps we should probably sleep for the night. Since we only have two more days before everypony has to get back to work I was thinking we head out on one more adventure tomorrow before that then we’ll plan things out as we go. Remember planets have different time fields around them in a sense. It’s not like they exist in another time before you say anything Vinyl. It’s more they have their own time that dictates how fast they go. Sometimes they don’t even match with our times in a sense.”

“Okay then Gray. I’m glad you ordered more beds for the other rooms.” Octavia pronounced as Fresh Coat took everything to the kitchen to clean.

“Oh Fresh Coat dear, allow me to handle the clean up. It would be rude if I didn’t help out a bit even if I am a guest.” Merlin spoke up as he followed Fresh into the kitchen.

“Are you sure Merlin?” Fresh Coat seemed confused at the sudden turn.

“Yes dear. I am more than capable of vanquishing a couple of dishes. I’m not that old.” Merlin guffawed slightly before placing a hoof against his mouth and coughing to a more dignified chortle. “The rest of you go sleep.”

“I’ll still be up for a while longer. I slept for a long time already this afternoon.”

With that everypony made their way up to their respective room. Vinyl and Octavia shared a room since it was the second largest and while we were all sleeping together in a sense it wasn’t an everyday occurrence. With six mares there wasn’t always enough room for all of us unless it was the specialty bed I ordered from Minoan territory. Everypony came up to me and kissed me… and it wasn’t on the cheek. Everypony made sure to get exactly what they wanted before they went to sleep for the night. Merlin had thankfully gone into the kitchen and started the dishes as everypony went upstairs to their respective bedrooms.


“So you think he’s going to talk with Merlin in secret?” Vinyl piped up as she got her bed ready.

“Most likely. He’s not here for just meeting with us. There must be something up.” Octavia replied as she got into bed.

“Shouldn’t we get the story as well?” Vinyl took off her sunglasses placing them on the small stand she brought to the house two nights ago.

“Let’s let Gray tell us. In case you didn’t notice but he made up part of the story about his time as a cop.” Octavia explained as she covered herself and took off the small purple bowtie and white collar she usually wore.

“Really? How could you tell?” Vinyl nearly yelled before switched to a harsh whisper.

“He wouldn’t look any of us in the eye. Whatever happened was probably much worse but I think he wanted to get his point across. He’s a very good liar when he wants to talk to strangers. When he speaks to us he makes it very obvious that he’s omitting things or outright lying. It’s probably much worse than we could possibly think if he keeps doing it. As an officer of the law what’s the worse thing that could happen to a suspect while resisting arrest Vinyl?” Octavia stared at the ceiling realizing both what she was saying and what she was thinking and how dark they got.

“You don’t think he would…” Vinyl started only to be cut off.

“It’s in his eyes Vinyl. Spitfire, Redheart, Fresh Coat and even Sunshower have all seen it. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to save us. Sunshower was more surprised when she stopped Rourke from killing Gray. Rourke exploded from the propeller blades striking him but it was Sunshower’s hit that ended him. He was a monster but she did it and that’s when she understood the look in his eyes. The one all of us were both intimidated and attracted to in the first place. The willingness to kill to keep others safe. I won’t condone that that is something good but at the same time I can’t deny it’s gratifying to know he places all of us on a pedestal that he won’t let any monster touch.” Octavia sighed as she felt he ears fall against her head.

“I guess… I guess I never really noticed. He’s always been too nice especially to me. He didn’t treat me like a tail lifter ya know. Even after Neon said all those hurtful things to me… I still say this was the best idea we’ve ever had.” Vinyl resolutely answered as she sat up looking over to Octavia who rolled over to look at her.

“I won’t deny that. But we have only managed to save one world thanks to a little luck on our part. This next world sounds like a doozy to me. Do you know what it is again?” Octavia lightly yawned before snuggling into her bed.

“No. Gray didn’t know the name but he said the world is the forest place covered in darkness.” Vinyl yawned back before drifting off to sleep for the night. Octavia nodded and dozed off just as she answered.


It had been a long time since I’ve felt this tense. Merlin and I worked on the dishes in quiet. He washed and I dried and put things away. I knew this feeling. It was the same feeling I got whenever my father needed to speak with me on difficult matters. He didn’t do the dishes very often and whenever he did we all knew it was important. I was surprised when Merlin did it… it brought back memories of better times. Times when I wasn’t a pony. When I was just some guy getting ready to join a police academy. When the dishes were gone Merlin lifted a hoof and led me outside.

The gentle pitter patter of rain changed to a constant thrashing. It was raining harder than I thought it was… though company certainly did make things inconsequential a lot of the time. Merlin lit up his horn and a translucent barrier appeared around us. Most likely it was only visible because I was inside it and I waited until Merlin had changed back to his human form.

“You know it was unbecoming to lie to a woman. Still I can understand why you did so. The harshness of human society especially to a pony can be quite the buck to the teeth if that is the right expression.” Merlin intoned as he watched the constant rainfall.

“I had to kill the guy. He decided that if he couldn’t keep his kid, no one could.”

“I had a feeling your story was much darker. You have quite the simple life here. Are you certain you wouldn’t rather relinquish your keyblades and their memories and be a simple family living in a modicum of comfort. It would be easier on you since you did nearly die during your first mission.” Merlin asked though the wringing of his hands bled the constant concern he was feeling.

“You know… if you had asked me before I faced off against the first enemy these ponies would face I might have said yes. Now… well not I would say no. Things have changed a bit. I haven’t been doing this long but I can see myself doing this for a long time.”

“It seems we have been gifted with a willing fighter. I will admit that I didn’t come here for pleasantries but I wanted to make sure of your mindset before I bequeath you with more knowledge of the world.” Merlin surmised as he placed his hands behind his back. His pensive stare looking at me closely.

“I’m ready for mostly anything. I’m hoping that it isn’t something bad.”

“To be fair good news comes first. Here.” Merlin pulled something out of his sleeve revealing an old iPod with some headphones that looked to be resized for pony ears. “I’ve taken the liberty of giving you several music genres that were created after the supposed end of human civilization. There is an earth still out there but it is different than the one you know. I should know… I went there already and met a version of you by complete accident.”

“M-m-me?”

I looked over the iPod in quiet study drinking in the new information I was given. Apparently I wasn’t even in the same dimension as my home. My family was still gone. I sighed but placed the iPod into my saddlebags. Merlin also handed me a specialty charging unit for it made from several magical crystals. I couldn’t tell what they were but I was glad to have them.

“I may have also placed a few stories on there to listen to in case you want to not strain your eyes reading. The other thing I have for you is much more important and requires your extreme care.” Merlin spoke in authoritative tones which I knew meant this was serious. This was turning into a conversation like I would have with my father.

Merlin pulled another thing out of his sleeve revealing a large book. I instantly thought of the Winnie the Pooh book but when I looked at the cover it wasn’t the same. It didn’t have either Christopher Robin or Sora on the cover. Instead on the cover was a large star with two dots for eyes.

“This… seems different. What’s this book about?”

“I found this book one day while on my own journey and decided to keep it safe. It’s missing some pages due to the heartless but I’m certain if I gave it to you it would be in safer hooves.” Merlin passed the book down to me and I was certain that he magically floated a small book stand down into the basement if I was seeing out of the corner of my eye right.

“So… this has magic in it doesn’t it?”

“Yes. There is something special about this and I need you to find the torn pages whenever you possible can. This one has multiple sections to it. Three at the very least if my eyes are correct. Of course these are the good news I was mentioning in the first place… there still is bad news.” Merlin breathed out in quiet exasperation.

“I take it must be serious if it has you worried then.”

“We have detected another pony figure while you were in the Lost Empire. Some other pony was there… they gathered the remains of Rourke and used them to break the barrier surrounding Equestria.” Merlin bluntly stated.

“Another… There is and they wanted to do- what!?”

“I know it is hard to believe but after using several scanning spells in tandem with the rest of the others in the Tower we can verify with one hundred percent accuracy that there was somepony else there… oh bother now you have me doing it.” Merlin rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers looking to try and stop the impending migraine.

“Another one… and I take it from your tone that they will become an enemy then… There’s no way a pony could have done it though if what all of us have observed throughout the entire time I’ve been here on Equestria. Nopony knows anything about the heartless here. If they did I’m sure that the towns would be better prepared or even have legends about keyblades at the very least. When I fought Nightmare Moon she had no idea what the keyblade was. She only knew it was a powerful weapon at the very least.”

“Whomever this pony turns out to be we only know that they can move to different planets and had the magic to rival even Yen Sid at the minimum. Those purification spells placed on the crystals matched Yen Sid’s magic but they were all diluted due to the crystal so we did not get a true scale for how strong this pony turned out to be. You must be more careful from now on.” Merlin ordered me at this point.

I merely nodded as he shifted back to the blue unicorn stallion look and looked at the rain covered landscape. He turned to me with a nod and pressed a hoof to his nose instantly shooting up into the sky just as the translucent shield disappeared around us. I honestly thought he could only do that in human form after getting pissed at Arthur’s step father.

I shook my head and trotted straight down into the basement to find that small book stand in one of the corners and placed the book with the star on the cover on it still closed. While I could probably head in to see just how magical this book was I needed to prepare for tomorrow even if that meant trying to force myself to sleep for a while. I pulled out that iPod Merlin got me and placed the earplugs in before using my wing tips to press the buttons to change the topics I wanted to listen to. While I doubted music would help me sleep instead I looked at the books he got for me. One that I really wanted to listen to was actually on the list and even if it didn’t tie into anything really I wanted to hear it read to me. As I pressed play I dove into the shadows back into the foyer and sat on the couch while I listened to the book being narrated to me. The pitter patter of the rain still fresh on the night air.