He looked through the six pictures. Twelve bits was a good price for them, and that colt sure seemed happy to help.
"The leader," He said, lifting the image of Sandbar, "signified by Air. You take charge, and direct your team."
"The confident one," He said, lifting the image of Smolder, "signified by Fire. You rush forward, someone beside you or not."
"The strong," He said, lifting the image of Yona, "signified by Earth. You break all binds you have, physical or emotional."
"The empathetic," He said, lifting the image of Silver, "signified by Water. You heal others, with your powers or joy."
"The intelligent," He said, lifting the image of Ocellus, "signified by Wood. Your mind is your greatest weapon."
"And," He said, lifting the image of Gallus, "the loyal, signified by..."
"Why does Ocellus want to meet us again?"
Sandbar shrugged. Ocellus had been studying that book on and off for about a week now, but apparently had nothing to show for it. The only time she didn't have it was due to a rule the library had where she had to wait a day before checking it out again, which only applied to certain books.
Gallus started floating backward in a lounged position. "Knowing her, she probably did find something. She's really smart, after all."
"She not super genius."
Gallus shrugged at Yona, still smiling. "She's the genius of our group." Smarter than you, at least.
"Hey, I need to ask," Silver said, looking around, "Have any of you been hearing weird voices from time to time?"
Smolder scratched her head. "Only while you were answering math yesterday."
"Yeah, that's why I got it right."
Smolder knocked on Silver's head. "I still don't know why you almost said 16 times 55 was 28."
"How did you know what I was going to put?"
Sandbar rolled his eyes at his friend's antics. "Guys, we're here."
Sandbar opened the door to Ocellus' room for his friends, then closed it once all of them were in. Once he looked in the room, he saw something strange. A creature wearing a superhero suit, but the outfit wasn't what was weird.
It was a creature, definitely, but he couldn't tell what kind of creature it was. It was almost definitely Ocellus, as far as he was concerned, but he had no idea what form she was in. Though, oddly, he felt like he should have.
Smolder, however, hadn't come to the same conclusion. "Wait, who are you? Where's Ocellus?"
The creature giggled.
"Don't laugh!" Gallus got ready for a fight. "Where's our friend?"
The creature laughed more.
"Yona can trample puny creature!"
The creature was in hysterics.
Even Silver was getting mad. "Stop laughing and answer us!"
"Guys, stop. You look like idiots." Sandbar walked past his confused and angry friends and pulled the creature's mask off. Once it was off, the other four calmed down.
Silver started scratching her head. "How did we not realize it was Ocellus?"
Gallus tilted his head. "I feel dumb."
"Actually..." Sandbar lifted the mask. "... I think the reason is right here." Sandbar put on the mask Ocellus was wearing a moment ago.
The other creatures (minus Ocellus) were shocked. They watched Sandbar put the mask on, so they knew it was him, but, by just putting on that mask, it looked nothing like him!
Smolder grabbed at her head. "H-HOW?"
Ocellus giggled again. "Remember a week ago? When Sandbar mentioned a spell that could hide our identities? I think that mask has one such spell applied."
Gallus rolled his eyes. "Okay, great. We have A mask that hides identities. And the rest of us?"
"Can use these." Ocellus lifted five other masks out of a box sitting innocuously on her bed and lifted them onto herself and the other friends.
Suddenly, they were able to tell Sandbar was Sandbar again. They all were able to tell who was who, for that matter.
"Wait." Silver quickly alternated between putting on and taking off her mask. "How does this work?"
Yona shrugged. "Magic."
"Well, yeah." Ocellus rubbed the back of her head. "The spell actually seems to be a scrambler spell, meaning anyone that sees someone with the mask can tell who it is, but their mind ends up unable to process that information. The spell also counters itself, meaning if the spell applies to you for one reason or another, it doesn't affect you."
Gallus took his mask off and looked at it. "So the only ones that can tell who we are are anyone with that spell on them? That's neat. Although..." He put his other claw to his chin. "This looks kinda like it should go on Silver."
Ocellus let out a nervous chuckle and gathered all the masks. "I just wanted to show that effect off real quick. I didn't worry about which went to who, but they seemed designed with each of us in mind."
Smolder got suspicious. "Who gave them to you anyway?"
Ocellus suddenly seemed very... worried. "I don't know, but I hope they are an ally." She pointed at the box the masks were in. "When I woke up, that was sitting there. Also..."
She lifted the box and dumped it on the floor. Inside were five outfits, each designed for different creatures.
They all stared at the pile in shock and wonder.
Then Gallus started to panic. "Someone not only knows who we are but also where you sleep at night?"
Sandbar looked at Silver. "Lock the door."
Silver complied, then grabbed up the deep blue outfit from the pile. "If they wanted to hurt Ocellus, they would have done so last night, when they left the box. And why would someone leave us a gift if they wanted bad things to happen to us?"
"Silver's right." Sandbar dug out the light blue outfit. "Given what happens to White Cursed, I wouldn't be shocked if someone helping them would want to remain anonymous as long as possible, even to the cursed themselves."
"I'd like to know who they are." Smolder lifted the red outfit out. "But, I can't blame them for not wanting to be known."
Ocellus tugged at the green suit she had on. "It's still terrifying to think that someone was able to get into my room that easily."
Yona grabbed the brown suit. "Maybe faculty member? Someone supposed to be-"
"Guys?" Gallus tugged at his grey suit. "Why does this fit so well?"
They all looked at Gallus, whose suit fit near perfectly to him. They all quickly put their own suits on and, sure enough, they fit them all perfectly.
Who sent these? Sandbar thought to himself.
"I don't know," Ocellus replied. "The box didn't have a name on it, and the only things in it-"
Sandbar cut Ocellus off. "Hold on! I didn't say that out loud."
Silver flew up to Ocellus, pressing her beak against the changeling's nose. "Did you read his mind or something?"
It took a moment before realization swept across Ocellus' face. "Right! That's the main thing I wanted to bring up!" She quickly pulled out the book and flipped it open. "There are several things I discovered through this book, even with some parts of it removed."
"Removed?" Smolder looked over Ocellus' shoulder. "Why would they be removed?"
"It may have been to dissuade anyone reading this from wanting the power. I didn't find anything useful about our specific powers, but I did discover a few things that may be useful." Ocellus flipped to the first page of importance. "First, what we just brought up, it seems like anyone with the White Curse is psychically connected."
Gallus raised an eyebrow but kept quiet. Psychic? Yeah right. It took him a moment to realize that the others were staring at him. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Yona hear Gallus talk, but not see Gallus beak move."
"That's exactly it. We don't need to talk to communicate." Ocellus got oddly excited. "In fact, when Silver and Smolder were telling that lie about who took out professor Pinkie, Gallus said what I was thinking of saying. I thought it was just a weird coincidence, but if we're psychically connected..."
Sandbar smirked. "Then Gallus would have heard your thoughts, and acted as if they were his."
"That also explains why I got that math problem right yesterday."
Ocellus gave Silver a flat look. "Seriously, Silver. 28?"
Silver put on an annoyed look. "And how did you know what I was going to put."
Ocellus shook her head and looked back at the book. "The next point I wanted to mention. Have any of you thought about why you have your element?"
Smolder shrugged. "Dragons breath fire."
Silver transformed into her Seapony form. "This?"
Gallus glared at the changeling. "Way to rub it in."
Ocellus let out a nervous chuckle. "Anyway, changelings were supposedly born from trees. All makes sense, right?"
"Except," Sandbar motioned between himself and Yona as he spoke, "Us."
Ocellus nodded. "They don't make sense. Yaks live in a cold environment, so snow or ice would make sense, and an earth pony should have earth-based powers, right?"
Yona tilted her head. "So what is reason?"
"It's based on personality!"
"Personality?" The other five echoed.
Smolder shook her head. "Wait, hold on! That still doesn't make sense!"
Ocellus held up the book and pointed at the page. "Apparently, whoever made the White Curse set it up so those that have the right personality have specific powers. For example, there's apparently a power so grand, only the most loyal of beings can use it."
Sandbar raised an eyebrow. "Loyal, huh?"
Ocellus turned the book back towards herself. "It's not immediately clear yet what their reasoning was, but they gave Air to those with leadership capabilities, Fire to those that are confident, Earth to those that are strong, physically and emotionally, Water to those that are empathic, and Wood to those that are intelligent."
Gallus peeked over her shoulder. "Are those the only ones?"
"No. Aside from whatever the loyal types get, there's also Electricity for those that are creative, and Ice for those that are protective."
"Aaaagh!" Gallus was (thankfully) more quiet than usual. "Do I just not have powers?"
Sandbar patted his buddy on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure you have something. Just stick with us and we'll figure it out together."
Gallus chuckled. "I was gonna help you guys out anyway."
Smolder smiled, then turned to Ocellus. "Was there anything else?"
"One small thing." Ocellus flipped the book to the right page. "Apparently, these old heroes had specially made weapons. The Wing-rang, Blazer Blade, Cobble Mallet, Land-Sea bow, Castor Staff, Thunder Dagger, and the Echo Shuriken. There are also rumors of an eighth weapon, but it's not named."
"Then it probably doesn't exist." Gallus went from shrugging to smirking. "Though finding those weapons would be helpful."
Yona raised an eyebrow. "Do you know where weapons are?"
"Nope. It's not like we need them." Gallus flipped his head feathers. "It would just be nice to have them."
Silver looked at her suit. "So, these outfits."
Yona put on a big smile. "We be like Hentai Rangers!"
Silver stared off into space for a second, then looked at Yona. "Sorry, what's a Hentai Ranger?"
Yona waved her hoof around as she talked. "Hentai Rangers are student that turn heroes when fight evil! Monster appear in great size, and they use power to defeat and protect innocent! They master juggle school life and hero-"
"I don't want to be a Hentai Ranger," Ocellus said weakly.
Both Yak and Hippogriff looked at their friends, who had a variety of reactions, though all told the same story.
Ocellus collapsed on the ground, Sandbar looked absolutely disgusted, Smolder's face turned red from holding back laughter, and Gallus simply closed his eyes and put his claw on his beak.
"Sentai." Gallus slid his claw down his beak, as he opened his eyes. "The word you wanted was Sentai."
Yona got annoyed. "Then what Hentai mean?"
Smolder, through soft laughter, proceeded to explain what Hentai meant in as much detail as she could, her amusement growing as the other two's faces fell with horror.
After a long, uncomfortable silence, Yona and Silver shared a look.
"Yona let friends explain thing from now on."
Silver started rubbing her head. "What was I going to say? Outfits, outfits... Right! How are we supposed to change into them at a moments notice? Or the masks, for that matter."
They all looked at each other, then their outfits.
"I..." Sandbar tugged at his outfit. "... don't know."
Smolder suddenly looked shocked, then smug. Then she burned up her outfit in an instant.
Gallus slapped his claw against his face. "Good job! We've had these for all of five minutes, and you've already completely destroyed it!"
"Did I?" Flames consumed Smolder's body once again, and her outfit reappeared.
Everyone else was confused. Except for Ocellus, who giggled. "I had her use her powers to hide her costume inside her, effectively. I had her do it because it was funny to think of you guys-"
"Thinking she destroyed it?" Silver smirked at Ocellus. "That was pretty good."
"Thanks. More importantly, Smolder doing it means..." Ocellus' body was covered in leaves for a moment, causing her outfit to disappear. "We can do it too."
"The girls can do it!" Gallus specified. "What about us?"
As he spoke, Sandbar noticed an odd jewel on Gallus' shoulder. He tapped it, causing Gallus' outfit to vanish. Gallus looked over at Sandbar, who just tapped Gallus' shoulder again, causing the outfit to reappear.
Sandbar looked at his own outfit and tapped the jewel on his outfit. "Remember where that jewel is?"
Gallus looked at the jewel and then tapped it. "I'll keep it in mind."
Silver motioned over her eyes. "And the masks? The girls can do the same thing, but-"
"Let's try something." Sandbar tapped the jewel on his outfit again, causing it to reappear, then put on the mask that matched his outfit. He tapped the jewel, his outfit vanished... but the mask stayed in place. "Well, that didn't work." He pulled the mask off and shoved it in his... leg?
Ocellus rubbed her eyes. "Wait, where... what?"
Sandbar put on a nervous smile, his ears folded back. "Hehe. Would now be a bad time to mention that I do underground gambling from time to time?"
"Oh. I get it. I caught Garble doing this a couple of times in his own games." Smolder went up to Sandbar and tugged at his leg.
Gallus raised an eyebrow. "A sleeve?"
Sandbar rubbed the back of his head. "It's good for hiding cards, in case you need to win and run fast."
Yona was confused. "Pony gamble?"
Ocellus looked suspicious. "That's oddly mature and risky."
Silver was definitely concerned. "Is that even legal?"
Gallus looked Sandbar in the eye. "Remind me to never gamble with you."
Smolder gave Gallus a flat look. "That's what bothers you?"
"Anyway, do you know if they make those for griffons? I'm gonna need one for my mask."
Sandbar lifted his leg. "They're custom made. You'd need to go to a specific pony to get it."
Gallus felt up the fabric. "Who did you get yours from?"
Sandbar pulled his leg back. "Some pony called Backstitch."
"Backstitch?" Ocellus put her hoof to her mouth. "The one with the red coat?"
Sandbar turned his attention to Ocellus. "How did you know that?"
"He's a changeling."
They all stared at Ocellus for a second, Sandbar looking particularly uncomfortable with that fact. "Uh... That's... interesting."
Ocellus started looking nervous, then instinctively transformed into her pony form. "Uh, he's working with professor Rarity these days, but he'll do jobs on the side. I'm sure you can find him at the Carousel Boutique."
*BangBangBang* "Students! Class time!"
They all cringed, then quickly hid their outfits and masks (if they hadn't yet).
Gallus quickly came up with an excuse. "Sorry! We were gambling."
The other five shot Gallus a horrified look. It took Gallus a second to realize what he said, and his face fell.
"Well don't get too wrapped up in it! Get out here!"
Smolder opened the door, grateful that it was Pinkie and not one of the other professors.
"If you kids want to gamble, that's not my problem. But Applejack won't be happy if you're late!" With that, she bounced off.
"We're going to professor Applejack's class, right?"
"Yeah. Let's get going."
Ocellus locked her door, and they all made their way to the classroom.
Inside Ocellus' room, the invisible mare spoke to the invisible stallion, "Believe me now?"