//------------------------------// // Theory Crafting. // Story: Equestrian Eeveelution. // by Symphonicdysonince //------------------------------// A few days had passed since Cy learned his new move. In that time, we had killed an older tree at the edge of the farm, trying to get Cy's Volt Tackle to work. The tree was dented, scorched and missing patches of bark, but we were no closer to getting the move to work than we were that second day. So, I felt we needed a fresh perspective. "Did Cy ever say why he wanted to do this in the first place?" Yomega asked, following me through the orchard. "Cuz we wanted to see if we could?" I shrugged. "Personally, I just want to see how far we can stretch our moves at this point." "How do you mean?" Lost in thought, I started to speed up. "We already know moves Eevee's can't normally learn, yeah? What about moves that are species exclusive? Can we learn those too? Could we even create new moves?" "Slow down!" Yomega snapped. "Geez, everyone else slows down when they get thinking! And I highly doubt we can do the last one. Think about it for a sec." He huffed up to my side. "There are already how many known moves? Last I checked, there was seven hundred some odd. Do you honestly think we could come up with a new move?" "Won't know if we don't try." "Okay, give me one, off the top of your head." "How's about one that reverses everyone's speed so that the slowest one goes first." "Trick Room." "What about one that adds the Ghost type to someone." "Trick-or-Treat." "Seriously?" I growled. "Okay, what about a Protect that poisons whoever hits you?" "Baneful Bunker. Abes is trying to learn that one, but he's hit a snag." "Oh, cool. What's the snag?" I asked. Yomega snorted. "No one wants to hit him." "Fair enough." I shook my head. "I will think of a new move to create." Yomega chuckled. "And I will poke all the holes in it." "And that's why I grabbed you for this." I laughed. "You're a good theory crafter." We lapsed into silence, each with our own thoughts. Soon, we neared the others at the burnt tree. "... And now I'm running through the backyard, and there's this big chain link fence, and I thought I've never climbed a fence that high before." Vince's voice drifted to us. "And then I woke up at home." Yomega and I rounded the last tree to see the Cy, Conner and Zann roaring with laughter. "What did you do next?" Conner asked through his mirth. I spoke up. "Sorry to interrupt, but I brought Headmaster, so we should get started before Twilight needs him for anything." "Aww..." Vince pouted. "Okay. I'll tell you guys the rest later." Yomega looked from us to the tree. "I know I may not see much, but I'd like to see you attempt the move." "Alright. We'll wait for you're signal." I said as Cy and I walked to our marked line. "We?" Conner answered for us. "Leo's the only one who can even see what's happening in real time. We figured she'd be able to spot anything during the move itself." "Ah." Yomega nodded. "What's the signal?" "Flick your tail like this." Zann demonstrated. I held a paw out to stop Cy. "Yomega's giving the signal this time." "Right, right." Cy grumbled. We stood there, watching Yomega from the corner of our eyes. Once he flicked his tail, we blurred. I made sure to stay behind and to the side of Cy. I watched his toned muscles ripple under his jagged fur. Just like always, sparks of electricity arched across his fur, but they refused to connect into the electric cone from the anime. I peeled off as Cy slammed into the target tree. I arched around to climb the tree nearest the onlookers, stopping on a branch as Yomega's tail finished it's descent. Cy stumbled over to the group, shaking his bruised head. "Did I do it this time?" Conner rushed over, paws starting to glow with pink energy. The rest of us shook our heads. "Leo, what did you see?" Yomega looked up at me. I shrugged. "Nothing we haven't seen before. Electrical sparks were there, but nothing definitive. They almost seemed to be falling away as he ran." "Makes sense. It's not a priority move." Yomega mused aloud. He looked down in thought, while the rest of us looked at him in confusion. Eventually, he looked up again. "Have you tried slowing down a bit?" Cy and I blinked at him. "... What? Why?!" "I think you may be going too fast." Yomega explained. "Extreme Speed is a priority move, meaning it goes first. Obviously. Volt Tackle, on the other paw, isn't. I think you're going so fast, you either can't focus on anything else, or the move itself won't let you do anything else. Leo, what's Extreme Speed like for you?" I closed my eyes with a smile. "Everything not moving my speed seems to stop, while the world seems to be sharper. Clearer. I can look around, and appreciate the still beauty. Or pinpoint where I want to hit my target." "But, you can change your target mid attack? Move freely?" Yomega pressed. "Eeyup." "What about you, Cy?" The Jolteon paused, trying to find the words. "The world just kind of... Falls away. The only thing I can see is my target. While I know I'm moving quickly, I only seem to get closer to it as if I was running normally." "Can you focus on anything else?" "Last time I tried, I came to in a crater." Cy deadpanned. "He was out for an hour." Vince added. "There ya go." Yomega stated. "Cy, you need to figure out how to go almost as fast as your Extreme Speed, so that you can split your focus, and then try to add the lightning. If that doesn't work, come get me again." We all digested his advice. Zann broke the silence. "... And that's why he's the smart one." It was early evening when we had to stop. Even with Conner's healing, there was only so many times Cy could wipe out before being knocked out. We had decided to carry him to the Crusaders' clubhouse to recover. We tromped our way up the ramp before we noticed that the building was occupied. The Crusaders were currently organizing books of all things. "Hey, Sweetie?" Scootaloo squinted at a book. "Does The Jewel Theorem by Diamond Pixie go under 'j' or 't'?" "You ignore the word 'The' when organizing books, so it goes under 'j'." Sweetie looked up at us. "Oh, what did you do, Cy?" The other fillies looked over at us. Apple Bloom sighed, pointing to a pile of cushions. "Put him over there." We quickly followed Apple Bloom's command. Once Cy was in a comfortable position, we lay around him and watched the fillies organize their new book collection. <> I asked. <> Vince said. <> We lapsed back into silence as books found homes on the new shelves that lined the back walls. We all flinched as a crack rent the air. Porter floated with a book in his hands. He floated the book over to the fillies, turning it to show a note. Once Scootaloo had taken the book, Porter vanished with a pop. "Missed one, hope you're still organizing. See you after school's out tomorrow. Arr Gee." Scootaloo read the note aloud. She looked at the others. "I bet Porter hid it on him." "That's a safe bet." Apple Bloom sighed. "Can ya believe tha' Casey hid my entire closet o' bows?" "Where did he scatter them?" Sweetie asked. The farm filly shook her head. "I found the closet in the basement." Our ears turned to the ramp as soft hoof falls made their way up it. Turning to look, I saw Silver's head look into the clubhouse. Vince gave a soft growl before Yomega smacked him over the head. "Hey." Silver called upon spotting the Crusaders. "Can I come in?" The trio shared a look before Sweetie spoke up. "Sure." As Silver made her way into the room, I saw that she was still wearing her orange hoodie. She sat on the far side of the room, ears and tail drooping. I felt someone shifting behind me, before Conner carried a cushion over to the sad filly. I soon joined Conner by Silver's side. "What's wrong?" Apple Bloom asked. "Well," Silver sighed, "we finished up our work for the day. The lot is completely clear now, by the way. Well, we had just finished up when Tiara came up to me. She told me that she will be going to a boarding school in Canterlot, and that she will be finishing her community service up there. She's leaving tomorrow." Silver sniffed before continuing with a warble in her voice. "Then she turned and left without another word. She wouldn't give me a chance to say good-bye!" She broke down crying. Conner and I pressed ourselves against her. <> I murmured. <> I heard Conner soothe from Silver's far side. The Crusaders joined our cuddle pile, each offering their sympathies. We let the grey filly cry her tears dry. Soon, Silver's crying dropped to simple sniffling. "I don't know what to do, now that she's really gone." She whispered at length. "I feel so alone..." "Ya can hang out with us." Scootaloo offered. "But, aren't you guys busy with summoner stuff?" Apple Bloom smiled. "I'm sure we can find time for ya." Sweetie hugged the distraught filly. "We'll make sure you're never alone."