The Terror of Death- The Next Morning
By the time that the sunlight broke through his curtains, the adept rogue was beginning to slowly open his eyes. Waking up, Haseo originally was going to prop himself up on the bed and get up so he could eat breakfast. But upon waking up, it was then that he felt somepony laying on top of him. More specifically, the young shadow filly that he had taken into his care, Sapphire Rose. Originally, she once lived on the streets of the empire and made a living through stealing food and other possessions from the locals, but Haseo thought that there was something about her that was different. Under her hostility that she showed towards other ponies, there was something else. A different side to her.
Though… the stealing part might not be going away anytime soon. Because when he woke up, he found only a sheet covering him and Sapphire covered in the comforter that was originally over them. Luckily though, he could see her head as the adept rogue stretched out a hand to see if Sapphire was awake. Gently touching her on the head for a moment, before moving his hand away.
“Ngh…” Sapphire groaned/moaned, batting at where she had been petted with a tiny hoof as she continued to sleep with her muzzle scrunched up. Shortly after her head retreated into the comforter as it rolled over away from Haseo as the sounds of her lightly snoring continued.
In Haseo’s mind, two things came up. The first thing was that he shouldn’t disturb her. But the second thing was that if she continued to roll that direction, she would end up falling off the bed. So, instead of lightly touching her, he just moved the rolled up comforter so that it would not fall off the edge of the bed.
Unexpectedly though, the moment he took hold of the comforter the snoring was cut short as two neon blue glowing orbs stared out at him from where Sapphire’s head vanished. “Um… Good morning.” He lightly said to her.
“...” the eyes continued to stare, almost as if paralyzed, before like a lightning bolt A blue mist fired out of the comforter and ducked under the bed.
“Before you ask… You were an inch away from falling off the bed-” He pointed out. Only to see that she had went off to hide under the bed as he sighed. “... I’m sorry, Sapphire. I didn’t mean to do that.” In Haseo’s mind, he didn’t think that things were really starting off well. He had only been an adoptive dad for… well, less than a day and now Sapphire was hiding from him like a scared kitten.
“Too bright! Where am I?” Sapphire hissed from the darkest space under the bed.
That… had Haseo think to himself for a moment before looking towards the curtains and closing them. Darkening the rest of the room as Haseo answered her question. “Under the bed. I just closed the curtains, so it shouldn’t be that bright now.”
Slowly, Sapphire’s head began to peek out from under the bed as Haseo was able to watch her mist like body and glowing eyes slowly solidify and dull until she regained her physical form. The sounds of her hooves on the floor had Haseo let out a sigh of relief… along with making a mental note to NEVER open his curtains ever again as he looked back at her. “How did you sleep, Sapphire?”
Sapphire’s head immediately snapped in Haseo’s direction as she went wide eyed and ducked back under the bed. “Noooo! He saw, he most certainly saw!!” She squeaked, sounding strangely embarrassed. Which only left Haseo puzzled as he just tilted and looked back at her.
“Sapphire? Are you okay?” The adept rogue asked, shortly before looking under the bed. “Is something wrong? I was going to make breakfast soon.”
“Noooo, don't look at me! I’m not-” Sapphire rambled on, seaming to not know or understand whats going on. Until suddenly, she was interrupted by her stomach growling at Haseo’s mentioning of food… resulting in a reddish pink glow seeming to come from her face as she hid under her hooves.
“Sapphire, I don’t know what’s going on… but you have to eat,” Haseo told her as he made his way to the kitchen. Ever since he came back to the crystal empire, he learned that there were a few advancements in how crystals were used. One example was what he would call the Crystal Empire equivalent of a refrigerator, just made out of a crystal and two shards with cryo-magic keeping a lot of the food in here cool. He got out some of the eggs that were in the fridge as well as the loaf of bread that was on top of the fridge as he looked back at her. “Would you like some scrambled eggs and toast?”
“W-what is scrambled eggs and toast?” Sapphire asked, having difficulty pronouncing the words. When Haseo heard that, he seemed… rather surprised at first. But he also saw it as a chance to show her something new.
The first thing that he did was take one of the blades that he would use as an adept rogue and channel some heat into one of his swords. The purpose for it was to use it to toast the slices of bread he was using for their toast this morning. Next, he opened up a cabinet that was underneath it and grabbing a frying pan along with two plates. Once the toast was done, he took the blade and flipped the pieces onto the plates like he was handling a spatula.
Now it was time for the eggs. Heating up his second blade like he did with the first one, he placed the frying pan on top of it and cracked open four eggs. Letting the heat soak in as he broke up the yoke and began to cook it. It took a few moments, but once he was done, the adept rogue had two plates ready for them. With two pieces of toast and scrambled eggs to go alongside it as he placed them on the table while also having his weapons cool off.
“There we go. Breakfast is ready.” As Haseo said those words, Sapphire peeked over the edge of the table. A chair under her hooves as her cat like eyes stared curiously at the toast and eggs like some kind of alien creature that had just appeared in front of her. Haseo himself just watched and waited to see what her reaction would be when she tasted it, especially with the amount of effort he went through to make that meal for her.
Slowly, Sapphire looked up and locked eyes with Haseo as her muzzle and front hooves inched up and onto the table. Slowly reaching for the eggs and toast, before grabbing ahold of the plate and seeming to vanish under the table with all of it. For a moment, Haseo was left with nothing but an empty table and munching sounds until Sapphire soon returned to staring over the edge of the table with most of her face hidden but this time with sparkling eyes. Easing the plate with not even a crumb left on it back onto the table.
Which… definitely surprised the adept rogue. He did not think that she would finish up the meal that fast. In fact, he had only finished the first piece of toast that he had before realizing that she was done. And the sparkling eyes made Haseo think that she definitely enjoyed it as well as made him wonder if she wanted to have some more.
Finishing the toast that he had in his mouth, he then pushed the plate over so it was closer to her and then asked a question. “Are you still hungry? You can have the rest if you like.” And as if the words were a trigger, Sapphire lunged for the plate and dragged it under the table just like last time as she scarfed down the extra food. Repeating her action of placing the empty plate on the table with sparkling eyes right afterwards as well. “I guess that answers my question then… What do you think?”
Slowly, Sapphire inched her head and front hooves onto the table as her eyes grew wide and grew even more sparkles. Followed almost instantly by her flailing and banging her hooves on the table as if it was a bongo set. Haseo was not quite sure if that was the answer he was looking for, but he couldn’t just tell her to ‘use her words’. So he just smiled and looked back at her.
Though, as he was placing the dishes back in the sink, there was a small knock at the door. Which prompted Haseo to walk back over and answer, partially opening the door halfway as he looked to find a familiar face outside. “Sunburst? I honestly did not expect to see you this morning.”
“Neither did I if I were to be honest with you,” the unicorn replied back, “But Cadance wanted for you to come help with something that’s going on today.”
That had the adept rogue raise an eyebrow for a moment as he looked back at Sunburst. “What is going on today?”
“General Ironwings brought in some recruits from Canterlot that could become part of the royal guard… She see’s today as their orientation day.”
The main hall in the crystal empire had a small group of ponies that consisted of Pegasi, Unicorns and Earth Ponies as they all stood in front of General Ironwings. Who was in her pony disguise as she looked back at the new recruits that were here. “I’m not the type for mushy introductions, so let me get straight to the point. All of you were assigned here to serve as new members of the Crystal Guard here in the Crystal Guard. As you might have heard, we are just starting out, but we do things a lot differently here than we do back in Canterlot, such as fighting monsters, collecting with resources and dealing with those who are seen as a bit of a nuisance as well as a threat to our society. Especially when some that don’t have any form of magic and believe themselves to be of… mystical persuasion.”
Several of the ponies that were in the room were laughing at the last bit, even though they weren’t really supposed too. But for one pegasus in the middle, who had a ponytail that was tied up in a braid, he asked a different question. “Apologies for speaking out of turn General, but is there anything specific that we should know about the empire?”
“Most of what you should know has already been covered in the briefing-”
As Ironwings said that, it was then that one of the walls began to have shadows take form around it. All before they saw a pair of hands and part of a bipeds head stick out. Before being met with a pair of gazing eyes. It looked like that person was going to say something as he was slowly emerging from the wall.
But unfortunately, somepony else got to it first. “HEY KIDS, WANNA SEE A DEAD BODY!?!”
Several ponies were startled by that. Including the pegasus that was originally talking as he fell backwards. Two ponies were even screaming as Haseo stepped out through the wall and facepalmed himself. “Did you really have to say that, Sapphire? Out of everything you can think of… that was your first idea?”
“But the ponies had their guard down…” Sapphire replied, emerging from Haseo’s shadow in a way similar to how he just emerged from the wall. “And it was funny?” She then added on with an innocent fang filled smile.
That had the adept rogue nod his head for a moment as he looked back at each one of the ponies that were here. Four in total, with two of them being stallions and two of them being mares. For the stallions, one was a light orange earth pony while the other was an ice blue pegasus with a leather colored mane (which was the same one that was tied up). For both of the mares, one was a earth pony that had half of her obsidian colored mane shaved off alongside a set of mismatched eyes while the other was light green unicorn who had a pair of reading glasses over his face that were the same dark color as his mane and tail.
But all of this only left one question on Haseo’s mind. “Um… I was told that this was an orientation. I honestly expected for their to be more.”
“There was,” Cadance replied. “When Shining Armor and Ironwings were in Canterlot looking for potential recruits to bring on for the guard, there were more than twenty different eligible candidates… However, when Ironwings wanted to test them herself to see if they were qualified…”
Around that moment was when the general herself interjected to finish that sentence before Cadance could. “These four were the ones that I saw to have the highest mortality rates out of all the others. A shame given that I actually had hopes for some of the ones who ended up failing.”
That… did not really give Haseo any positive news. In fact, it made him honestly think that they were scraping the bottom of the barrel when trying to find somepony that could be able to handle the… unpredictable conditions of the Crystal Empire. Matter of fact… he was unsure of one particular thing. And it was something that came up when the mint colored mare asked a particular question. “Excuse me, general… but I don’t recall anything about the crystal guard having bipeds among their ranks. So who is he?”
“That would be Haseo,” Cadance now spoke up, the name causing all of them to blink for a moment as they stared back at the princess. “Now… I know what you might think, but let me assure you that he is not what you think. He’s been the protector and guardian of the crystal empire since the time of my mother and now serves me too. Consider him your ‘captain’ alongside that of my husband and General Ironwings.”
Then, Cadance looked back towards the mint green unicorn as she asked the mare a new question. “Does that answer your question, Wintergreen?”
“I… guess. It’s just a lot to take in right now.” Wintergreen nodded. Which prompted Haseo in order to speak up now as he looked back at the rest of them.
“Trust me… there is a lot to cover here… but before we begin, I want to make one thing absolutely clear,” He said, before looking to Sapphire. “This here is Sapphire. She’s a shadow pony like Sombra, but is under my protection. If any of you have anything to say about her or say about myself and two of my closest friends that are also here, you take it to me and me personally. Do I make myself clear?”
The sight of Sapphire and looking at Haseo made all four of them nod their heads rather quickly, before the adept rogue let out a sigh as the filly went back towards his room. “Alright. Now… before I say anything else, I want to hear each of your names.”
“Wintergreen.” The light green unicorn replied back.
“Ash Burn.” The unicorn with the mismatched eyes soon spoke up afterwards.
“Spearhead.” The earth pony stallion answered Haseo’s question now. Leaving one more to answer as well.
“Quick Step.” The pegasus then replied, before asking one thing. “Now… Mr. Haseo-.”
“Please, just Haseo is fine.” The adept rogue insisted as he turned to the pegasus that was speaking.
“Very well… My colleagues and I were wondering if there was anything else that we should know while we’re here. Like anything we should know before we get started,” He responded, using one of his wings to scratch the back of his head. “We already know about not bringing harm to your daughter, but-”
A scream was heard from down the hall as a specific midnight blue filly was at that moment, noticeably missing. All while Haseo asked a question. “But?”
“But we wanted to know why some of the townsfolk have similar themed clothes, weapons and armor,” Spearhead now took a turn to speak in his colleagues place. “It’s much different from that of Canterlot and we really wanted to understand the reason for it.”
However, before he could be able to finish, that was when Sunburst soon burst through the door, looking back at Cadance as he had a rather exhausted expression on his face. “P-princess Cadance, I’m sorry! I tried to stop her! But when I pleaded with Sapphire, all it lead her to do was steal all the pillows and cushions inside the castle. She also happened to tilt all the paintings that went down the hallway and throughout the castle.”
All that was heard afterwards was just a menacing laugh of a filly as Haseo facepalmed himself. “Oh god… walking through that hallway is going to be an excruciating headache now,” He groaned, shortly before looking back at Ironwings. “Before I go handle this… would you like for me to talk to them about Job Classes or-?”
“I think we can manage for now,” Ironwings replied back, before looking fiercely at them. “Besides, there are some other things that I need to make sure to inform them about as well.”
Without even going as far as to ask about what she meant, the adept rogue began to venture down the tilted painting covered hallway back towards the room where he and Sapphire were staying at. And yes, walking through the hallway did give him a headache. Especially since everything, including the pottery and the chandelier that was hanging in the grand hall was also tilted somehow. Making Haseo question even more as to how that exactly was possible. And the closer he got to the door, the stranger things were.
But it wasn’t as strange as what he saw once he stepped foot inside the room. Because right away, he saw two things. First, some of the cushions that were stolen were used to block out the windows in Haseo’s room. While the rest were used to make a cushion fort that… somehow had a working drawbridge.
“Sapphire?” Haseo asked, closing the door behind him as he slowly approached the the filly’s self made sanctum of solitude. Before sitting down and using his finger to ‘knock’ at the gate of the castle. Waiting for a response from the shadow filly as he looked around the room for a brief moment. “Sapphire, are you there?”
“Yes?” Was the reply he got as Sapphire poked her head out of the pillows, a look of mischief on her smug muzzle. However… his response to her was not what she expected.
Instead of her getting lectured and told that what she did was wrong, he smiled and scratched her mane. “Aside from the headache that was the hallway… I have to admit, this is awesome.”
Sapphire stared at him in shock, not understanding what was going on. But when he began to pet her, she crumbled under his touch and let out a small yelp in bewilderment. “Nyoooo! Sthap!” She complained flailing her legs as she tumbled out in an attempt to cover her blushing face. “Sthap being so niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice! It's making me feel weiiiiiiiiiiird!” Which was then followed up by her smacking Haseo in the face with a pillow. Using her tail and diving back into her fort to hide, only her eyes being visible as they glowed through the pillows.
“How is me complimenting you weird?” The adept rogue asked, a little puzzled by the way that Sapphire was acting right now. “I mean… I’m trying to show that I care for you, yet you’re trying to hide like a scared puppy.”
“B-because your being s-suspiciously nice! ...and it's m-making me itchy all over for some reason!?” Sapphire stuttered in embarrassment.
“H-hey, there’s no reason to shout… And I’m not being suspicious at all really. It’s just the right thing to do,” Haseo wasn’t sure what exactly she was feeling… or what exactly could be causing this ‘itching’ that she was feeling, but he wanted to try and help keep Sapphire calm and not have her freak out over anything. “It’s normal for others to have different feelings, whether you’re happy that you helped someone out or you’re embarrassed because you did something dumb. That’s kind of normal here.”
“W-what's embarrassed?” She asked suddenly, like a timid cat falling prey to its curiosity.
“Like…” For a moment, he paused. Trying to think of something that could serve as an example in this instance. “Say that I had some kind of secret that I really don’t want for anypony else to find out. Like if some really tough guy had a secret that they liked keeping stuffed animals… but then one day, somepony actually finds out that secret, even though the one trying to keep it did everything they could to hide it. They would feel embarrassed that somepony found out because they didn’t want to have themselves look really soft in front of their peers… does that help?”
“I… Maybe?” She said, somewhat confused but slowly having an idea of what he meant. “So, it would be like Cadance reacting to somepony finding her fanfiction collection?” She then asked wondering if that would be a good analogy.
Haseo blinked for a moment, before looking back at her, processing what he heard before responding back. “Yes… wait, she has something like that?”
“... maybe…” Sapphire muttered as her eyes stopped glowing.
“SHINING!!! Were you going through my things again!?!”
The adept rogue chuckled back, before then thinking of something as he watched the shadow pony for a moment. It was as he was thinking that a small theory popped into his head. But the only way that he could actually confirm if it was true or not was by how Sapphire answered his next question. “This… may sound strange to ask but… Sapphire, what were things like back where all the other Shadow Ponies are?”
“Cold, dark, lonely, and most of all painful…” Sapphire winced as she poked her head back out of her pillow fort. “Nothing like it is here, thanks to you.” She then added on with a brave smile as he saw her tiny body shivering a little. Haseo placed a gentle hand on her body to ease her tensions… but her response did solve one thing.
“I see… Sapphire, I think I have an idea as to what’s causing this… itching, but don’t take my word for it,” He told her, letting out a sigh before asking her something else. “Would you like to hear it?”
“U-um, I guess? If I can’t trust you, I can't trust anyone right?” She said, her smile becoming a tad crooked and she wrapped her forehooves around his hand.
Haseo let out a soft smile, letting her move her forehooves around his hand as he looked back at her. “True… but this itching might be because of something you felt, not by interacting with someone. It might be because you’re feeling emotions… positive ones that you did not experience before back where you once were,” He explained. “Like happiness, affection, love, caring for others. Things that might sound like a… foreign concept to most shadow ponies. But… you’re not like them. You’re different.”
Sapphire stared back at him, slowly processing this with her young mind. And while she didn't quite understand it, she had placed her hopes and future in Haseo’s hands so she finally accepted it out of trust. “I trust you, d… d-da… d-d-dad!” She said as confidently as she could with her eyes shut tightly and her face growing uncomfortably warm.
That… was the first time that he heard her… or matter of fact, anyone call him that. And part of him felt uncomfortable with being called dad. But… after a bit, he felt good. For he then looked back at her and told her the first thing that came to his head. “Thank you… that really means a lot to me, Sapphire.” Wrapping his arms around her, he gently began to hug Sapphire. It was a way for him to show to her how much it meant as he felt her cling onto him. She then released his hand and proceeded to hug him back as best she could as the itchy feeling from earlier was replaced by a pleasant warmth in her chest, which she then proceeded to decide to ask which emotion it was later.
Then, Haseo felt as if he should tell her something. “Hey Sapphire… can I tell you a secret?” To which she simply looked up at him with eyes full of curiosity in response. “Haseo is… well, it’s my name here… but not my original name. Back home, before ending up here… I was known as Ryou. A name that my friends here still call me to this day, even though everypony else calls me Haseo.”
“Ok?” She replied, her face going from curious to disappointed. “Is that all? Because to me, you are still and always will be by Daddy!” She declared with puffed cheeks as if daring someone to challenge her claim, clinging onto him much harder than before.
“I just didn’t want you to be confused on the chance that we meet them and they call me by that name,” He replied back to her. “They’re kind of like me… but with different personalities. They have good intentions though.” As he said that, a small glimmer foretelling of a possibly terrible future appeared in Sapphire’s eyes. But it quickly vanished before Haseo could be able to see it.
However… what they did see next was a giant sword fly through their window and plowed through the side of Sapphire’s pillow fort. Stabbing through several cushions in half and causing the drawbridge on it to break.
“W-w-wya…” Sapphire stammered in shock, frozen like a rock. “I-I was just in there... a-and my favorite pillow… My p-pillow...”
“Oh god, don’t tell me…” Haseo thought to himself, before turning to the now shattered window after briefly looking at the sword that was now leaving a huge gash in his wall. But it wasn’t any ordinary blade. And as he looked outside, that was when he could see who it exactly belonged to.
In the middle of the training ground that was dimly overcast, he saw both Kite and BlackRose. And the latter of the two was missing their weapon.
“S-sorry! Eheh…” BlackRose chuckled nervously as she scratched the back of her head. “My grip slipped…”
“I told you it was a dumb idea.” Kite piped up casually, not tearing his eyes away from an origami in his hands.
Despite hearing BlackRose’s apology though, Haseo knew that wasn’t going to be enough. Not by a long shot. “I… don’t think it’s me you have to be apologizing too, Tessa.”
“Huh?” BlackRose tilted her head, before noticing Sapphire. “Oh my god! Did I hurt you-!?”
Kite cut her off. “She’s clearly fine.”
“Yet, BlackRose’s blade basically stabbed through the one pillow that Sapphire cherished all the others that she… found and is now mourning over it.” He told the two of them before realizing something important. The two of them have never actually met Sapphire yet. And out of all the times that would be likely for them to meet… this was not the most ideal.
“MY PILLOWS!” Sapphire cried, sitting amongst the piles of shredded pillows as she proclaimed her mourning of them to the heavens.
Haseo didn’t really feel the need to say anything to them after that, but instead just looked back to Sapphire as the adept rogue tried to calm her down. “Sapphire, it’s going to be okay. A friend of mine knows somepony who can fix them to where they’ll be good as new.”
Looking up to Haseo with teary eyes she asks, “Really?” To which, all he did was nod back with a smile on his face. “Yay! Thanks DAD!” She then shouted loud enough to be heard as far as the training yard below and maybe a bit further.
BlackRose’s eyes widened in shock. “What!? Ryo, who’ve you been seeing!?” Kite, meanwhile, looked irritated at the whitette.
That… had Haseo look back to both of them as he attempted to clarify what Sapphire meant. “I found Sapphire yesterday, so with Cadences permission, I took her into my care.”
“You should know how adoption works, Tessa.” Kite added, which caused BlackRose to fume.
For Haseo, he took a moment to look back at Sapphire before looking back at his two friends. “Sapphire, these were the two friends I was mentioning earlier. This is Kite and BlackRose. Otherwise known as Seabus and Tessa-”
“Don’t confuse the brat.” Kite grumbled, still having yet to look up from his hands.
“I’m not a brat, I am a thief!” Sapphire harrumphed, sticking her tongue out at Kite before taking note of BlackRose… and doing something absolutely crazy for anyone other than herself. She jumped out the window.
“Gyah! I got her!” BlackRose yelped, out stretching her arms as she tried to catch Sapphire. Followed momentarily by the filly landing smack onto her face and cling on like a facehugger.
“Targeted landing achieved~”
“Mmmph!” BlackRose’s screams were muffled by Sapphire’s fur coated stomach as the human tried and failed to yank the filly off of her. Kite just watched, uninterested. All while Haseo just looked at the two of them, baffled by what was going on as he tried to ask the filly the only question that he could be able to come up with right now.
“Sapphire, what are you doing?”
“I shall have vengeance! MUAHAHAHA!” Sapphire cackled as she latched harder onto BlackRose’s face.
“You do realize you’re getting vengeance over something that’s an accident right?” Haseo then responded back, before going over to try and get Sapphire off of BlackRose. “Besides, we can take these over to one of Twilight’s friends to fix it and maybe she can enchant it so that this wouldn’t happen again…” For a moment, it seemed like she wasn’t doing anything. Not budging at all.
That was… until he said one more thing. “If you get off of BlackRose’s face, I’ll buy you any single stuffed animal that you want.”
“Non lethal vengeance complete…” She announced before turning into a ball of smoke and flying over to Haseo before reforming on top of his shoulder, hugging onto his neck so that she wouldn't fall off due to her size. “Can I have a really big one?”
“Whatever one you want,” He responded back, even scratching her head for a moment as he heard a cheerful glee escape from the filly. “Even one that was bigger than your fort.”
“What… just happened?” BlackRose asked, utterly confused.
“Oh… right,” The Adept Rogue almost forgot about the one thing that he should’ve mentioned before they saw Sapphire. “I should’ve told you this sooner, but Sapphire’s a shadow pony.”
“Who cares?” Kite asked, genuinely curious.
Sapphire stared at Kite for a moment before muttering “I like you now.” as she let go of Haseo’s neck and landing on the ground to escape his petting. Leaving the Adept Rogue to collect the remains of the destroyed pillows and cushions that were scattered all over the floor.
Then, he realized something. “Sapphire, is everything still tilted out in the hallway?”
“Dear SWEET CELESTIA!! Why is walking through this blasted hallway such an excruciating headache!! And just when I thought finding the blacksmith as a recruit was problematic…”
“Yep~” Was Sapphire’s simple (and for some reason, proud) reply.
“Okay then… Guess it’s time to go to the chaos gate then,” Haseo spoke up as he looked back at his friends. “I’m going to take a trip to Ponyville. Can you guys keep an eye on things while I’m gone?”
“What things…?” Kite narrowed his eyes. He finally stood up, discarding the origami. “Is there something you haven’t told us?”
“The only thing that’s going on now is that Ironwing’s taking some recruits from Canterlot and having them be part of the guard here, but I believe she has that under control…” The Adept Rogue replied back, before looking up at the ceiling and noticing something. The lamp above their heads… was crooked. “Sapphire…?”
“Hehehehe!” Sapphire giggles as she gave them all a innocent look while fiddling with a diamond in her forehooves. Hopefully… she won’t do the same thing when in Ponyville. Hopefully.
Some time later…
By the time that he had arrived in Ponyville, it took Haseo a little bit in order for him to be able to get his bearings in the small town. The last time he was here, it was because AIDA has corrupted a pony that was facing Twilight in a magic duel. A stage performer named Trixie Lulamoon. But he wasn’t here to talk to Twilight about that. Instead, he needed to ask a favor from both her and the other unicorn that he had met once in the crystal empire, who was known as Rarity.
But before he could do either of those things… he had a promise that he needed to fulfill. And after walking and looking around for a few minutes, the adept rogue happened to find a place that might have what he was looking for. “Mr. Trot’s Toy Box hunh?” A brief glance at the windows showed several different kinds of toys, from board games and action figures to cards, dolls and a variety of others. “Well, if this isn’t the place to find you something Sapphire, I don’t know what is.” to which Sapphire simply followed behind him not knowing what he meant.
Walking through the door, Haseo heard a small jingle from the bell on the top of the door as he now saw the inside of the store. Which, caught him by surprise. Upon initially entering, he thought it was the size of a locally owned shop. But upon coming in, he found the inside of the building to be the size of a full on toy emporium. Yet, it appeared that there weren’t many ponies actually here at this hour.
Except for one. “Welcome to Mr. Trot’s Toy Box! How can I-” When Haseo turned around, he turned to find a young mare that was at the counter of the store. Who was honestly shocked upon seeing him for the first time… as well as a bit nervous given the change in her voice upon seeing him. “Oh… h-hello there…”
“Um… hello,” He said for a moment, before looking back at the mare. “Are you… Mrs. Trot?”
“What? No, nothing like that,” The mare shook her head, scratching the back of it with a hoof as the unicorn looked back at. “That name belongs to my grandmother. I’m Mr and Mrs Trot’s granddaughter, Toy Maker. I’m running the shop while my grandparents are celebrating their thirtieth anniversary”
“Oh, s-sorry for assuming wrongly,” He replied back to her, before looking around for a moment and down at his shadow on the floor before asking a question. “Though, I was wanting to ask if you can help me with something. Do you have a section for stuffed animals?”
“Why yes actually,” The mare told him, before pointing a hoof towards the far end of the store. “All of our teddy ursa’s and stuffed animals are in the back of the shop. Though… out of curiosity, is this something for you?”
The adept rogue shook his head, chuckling for a moment as he looked back at the mare behind the counter. “Not for me…”
Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, Sapphire went from hiding behind Haseo’s leg to charging down the aisles towards the direction of the stuffed animal section. “I WANT THE BIGGEST ONE THEY HAVE!” She declared as she vanished into the toy store.
That… was followed by Haseo pointing in the direction of where the shadow filly took off as he looked back at the startled toy store clerk. “It’s for her.” He began to follow down where Sapphire took off as he proceeded to go to the back of the store. In all honesty, he did not really expect to find much here. Maybe just a few decent sized teddy bears or a few stuffed animals based off of creatures in Equestria.
He was so wrong… Because by the time he got to the back, he found Sapphire hugging a huge Ursa Major plushie that was almost bigger than the front door to his room. And Sapphire was on top of it like the plushie was her loyal steed and preparing to charge into battle.
“I want this one.” She said, sounding like a queen ordering her subjects.
For a moment, Haseo thought that she was kidding. But the look on the fillys face told him that she was downright serious as he noticed a price tag on the corner of the Ursa Major’s ear. It read 500 on the side along with showing the shiny coin that was the Equestrian Bit as he took a moment to check something. He knew that he could be able to inspect others equipment, change weapons and what not… but given the limited amount of combat experience and missions that he had been on, he was unsure if he had that much money on him.
Pulling out his inventory window told him otherwise though, because at the bottle of the screen, it said that he had… 1000 bits. It honestly surprised him at first, because he hadn’t had the chance to go on any quests or take on anything that could give bits as a reward. But then he remembered his encounter with Sombra upon first awakening. If that were treated like a final boss encounter at the end of a quest chain, then perhaps the bits he had were a reward for defeating him.
“Did you find something you like?”
The sound of Toy Maker’s voice caught the attention of Haseo and Sapphire Rose as the unicorn noticed Sapphire playing on the top of the Ursa. All before Haseo nodded his head. “Yeah, I believe we have… How much for this?”
“It's the most adorable stuffed animal EVER!” Sapphire then declared afterwards, like she was issuing a royal decree.
After paying for the Ursa Major plushie that Sapphire wanted, the next stop for both her and Haseo was to head to the place where Rarity ran her business. The carousel boutique. Originally, the plan was to head to Twilight’s library first before going there, but after running into the unicorn while she was in town, they instead made a detour to go to the boutique instead.
And once they had arrived, they found Rarity on the couch in her home, reading what looked to be the newest copy of ‘The Foal Free Press’ before taking a moment to set it down as she heard the belle to her front door jingle. “Why good afternoon Twilight,” She greeted the fellow unicorn, before turning to see Haseo and Sapphire. “And hello there Mr. Haseo, and… Oh my, who’s this little one?”
“Oh here we go…”
“I’m Sapphire, and who are you miss marshmallow?” Sapphire replied with the most innocent of expressions… almost too innocent...
“Why I am Rarity Belle. The owner of the Carousel Boutique,” Rarity responded back, trying her best not to sound offended by what the filly just told her before looking back at Haseo. “Please refrain yourself from any irrational behavior, little Sapphire.”
“Try telling that to anything that isn’t bolted down…” Haseo muttered to himself before looking back at both unicorns now. “Anyways… I’m sorry for Sapphire and I to come down to Ponyville unexpectedly, but I wanted to ask for your help with something.”
That was when Haseo took out the pieces of cushions and pillows that fell victim to the flying blade of BlackRose and set it down on the table. For a moment, he thought he heard a sound similar to that of suspenseful movies when it's revealed that one of the key main characters had been murdered as both ponies looked at him. Rarity being the first to speak. “My word. What exactly happened to these elegantly designed cushions?!
“They were murdered by a flying sword!” Sapphire declared, immediately giving a pouty look in displeasure of the state of ‘her’ precious pillows while pointing a hoof at them.
“Um… what?” Twilight asked, causing Haseo to fold his arms and provide further clarification.
“Earlier today, Sapphire was… collecting a bunch of cushions around my room and turning them into her own little fort. However, at the same time that she stepped out to talk to me, my friend BlackRose was trying to train with Kite and do some spinning sword attack-”
“Who is this Kite and BlackRose that you speak of, darling?” Rarity then asked.
“They’re friends of his… from before he came to Equestria,” Twilight briefly explained. “Now, back to the spinning sword… thing?”
“Well, Kite was trying to help her practice with having a stronger grip on her weapon, but BlackRose ended up trying to do something that she didn’t really have enough skill for,” The Adept Rogue continued, “Long story short, she lost her grip, her broadsword was sent crashing through my window and it tore through some of Sapphire’s favorite pillows.”
“Oh, the agony… Nopony should have to deal with having a weapon crash through into your home. That’s just beyond tragic,” Rarity replied, before looking down as Sapphire. “I feel sorry that you have to go through something like this.”
“Can you fix them? Daddy said you can fix them…” Sapphire said while giving Rarity the puppy dog eyes so large and watery only Pinkie could rival her, if it wasn't for her inky tears.
“Hmm,” She said, picking them up with her magic and analyzing the damage before looking back at Sapphire. “I believe I can be able to do so. Excuse me for a moment…” Channeling some more magic, Rarity took all the torn cushions with her and began to take them to her sewing room. It took her only a few moments, which felt like an eternity to the young filly as she sat with her new Ursa Major plushie. Waiting for the cushions to make everything seem complete.
And when the fashionista came back out with the cushions, which looked like they were completely brand new, Sapphire was overjoyed with the results.
“Thank you, Ms Rarity!” Sapphire squealed as she glomped the older mare before nabbing the pillows and running circles with them around the boutique.
“Why, isn’t she quite an energetic one…” Rarity chuckled, before looking back at Haseo. “And I was beginning to think that she was one of Sweetie Belle’s classmates.”
“Actually… I’ve been looking out for her and raising her.”
That… had Rarity blink for a moment, before looking back at the Adept Rogue. “Hang on, darling… Are you telling me… that she’s yours?” That just lead to him nodding, before the fashionista said one last thing. “My word, she’s so adorable!!! Who’s the mother? Come on, fill me in on all the details.”
That statement just lead to Twilight facehooving herself as she looked back at Rarity. “Don’t be silly, Rarity. Sapphire’s-”
“No, Twilight, don’t!”
“-adopted.”
In the next moment, Sapphire vanished as everything that wasn’t bolted down, including the ponies, found themselves stuck to the ceiling. Almost as if they were pulled by a huge magnetic force as everything, including Rarity’s mannequins, were now stuck to the ceiling. And to make things more baffling… both of the unicorns were also on the ceiling too.
Which, just lead to Twilight looking back at Haseo with a startled expresssion. “W-what just-?”
“This happen anytime you bring that up around Sapphire,” He said, “Trust me, she tilted everything in the crystal empire… and I mean everything when somepony else brought it up.” After saying that, he looked back at the young filly… only to not notice her there. Leading to the Adept Rogue sighing as he opened a window.
“Sapphire, we’re going to need Twilight to enchant your cushions and plushie so they don’t get shredded by anymore swords. Could you please put them back down?” A moment after Haseo said that Sapphire re-entered the boutique through the front door setting off the chime… followed by gravity suddenly reasserting itself upon everything in the room that was on the ceiling. Both ponies landed back on their hooves, and everything else was mostly put back in it’s proper place.
CRASH!
Again… Mostly.
“Thank you.” Haseo replied back. “Twilight… Before we go, can I have you enchant these? I want to make sure than another… incident, like this never happens again and I remember Cadance once saying about how some unicorns can enchant clothing to where it’s durable as steel. Can you try it?”
Twilight rested her hoof on her chin, pondering the possibilities for a moment before nodding her head. “I believe that’s something I can be able to do.”
Back in the Empire
By the time they got back and situated, almost everything that was in the castle was straightened back up and Haseo was able to get the Ursa Major plushie into his room along with the cushions that Rarity fixed for them. The crack in the wall was beginning to patch up because of the energy from the Crystal Heart as the final cracks were being filled. Even the window was finally finishing up as he looked back at the room. Letting out a sigh of relief, glad that things were beginning to simmer down.
“Hey guys, glad you’re ba-aaaa…! Wh-what’s that thing…?” BlackRose gaped at the plush, eyes wide with shock and confusion.
“That’s… Sapphire’s new friend,” Haseo replied back, pointing in the direction of it. “Bought it for her while I was in Ponyville getting the cushions patched up… What? It’s just a plushie-”
Suddenly, the ursa major plushy began to groan as it floated towards BlackRose, a haunting black mist emanating from its body as its eyes glowed with eerie lights~
“Gyah!” BlackRose screamed, utter horror etched on her face as she draws her sword, looking as if she wasn’t even seeing what was in front of her.
“Boop.” The ursa seemed to say as it poked her nose, a glint in its glass bead eyes as it fell to the ground a moment later.
BlackRose collapsed onto her knees, hyperventilating as she dropped the sword. She stared vacantly and the floor, shaking. Only to feel a hand on her shoulder as Haseo stood next to her before turning to the plushie.
“Sapphire, was that really necessary? You’re making her lose her mind.”
Sapphire materialized on top of her plushie, a confused look on her face. “Why does she look like that? Is she going to be Ok?” She asked, a tad bit of concern in her voice. “I only meant to get even for nearly cutting me in two, not to make her… like this...”
Haseo looked back at the filly, before looking back to BlackRose as an idea came to his mind. “Sapphire… can you get me a glass of water please?”
Sapphire immediately dashed off to, somewhere, before returning with a large crystal bucketful of water. Haseo deadpanned for a moment, before getting up to get a glass from the kitchen for a brief second along with a towel. As he returned, he filled the cup up with water, before using it to splash BlackRose in the face. Hoping that something like that would snap her out of her trance.
Blackrose yelped, shuddering out of her stupor. She panted as she sat down on the floor, nursing her rapidly beating heart. “Gah, what happened…?”
Sapphire hid behind Haseo’s leg when BlackRose yelped, staring out at her with big pouting eyes as she hung her head. “I-I’m sorry…”
“Sapphire thought it would be funny to try and scare you… only for you to be frozen in fear on accident,” He said, before looking to the filly. “Just don’t try that again, alright?”
“That didn’t happen… right?” BlackRose chuckled nervously. “I’ve never freaked out that bad unless I had a bad fever...!”
That… had Haseo look back at Sapphire for a moment, before looking back at BlackRose as he helped clean some of the water off of her face. “Hey, it’s okay… everything’s alright now… You want to take a moment to rest here for a bit? Maybe have something to eat?”
“I’ll be fine… I just need some air!” BlackRose faked a smile as she excused herself. “Good one, Sapphire!”
Sapphire just stared as BlackRose left before muttering “She’s lying…” and then sulking into her pile of pillows.
Elsewhere…
Diamond Tiara stared at the carpet of her bedroom, attempting to drown out her parents loud arguing from beyond her closed door. Her moping was interrupted, however, by a tink at her window. The filly was quick to hop off of her bed and practically galloped towards the window.
Outside was a female biped with dark skin that had tattoos on her forehead, upper chest and lower abdomen. She had short spiky blue hair with a white ponytail on her right side, hazel eyes, and was clad in what looked like a blue sports bra surrounded by armor that only covered her left arm, and matching shorts with armor only around her left leg.
She was tossing pebbles at Diamond’s window to get her attention. Diamond eagerly opened the barrier between the two and eagerly spoke up. “Ender! You came!”
“Keep it down, pipsqueak…” ‘Ender’ hissed, holding out her hands. “I don’t need you announcing my presence to the entire town.”
Diamond smiled nervously. “S-sorry…” Then, she jumped out of her second story bedroom and into Ender’s arms, who quickly set her down.
“I have one more task you have to do in order to gain the freedom you’ve always wanted…” Ender began, and Diamond’s ears perked at the ‘straight to business’ attitude she’d been getting used to over the weeks they’d known each other.
“What is it?” Tiara tilted her head.
Ender’s lips turned into a half-smirk. “Steal one of the Elements of Harmony…”