//------------------------------// // Breathing Spell // Story: The enhanced Stallion // by Shenzy //------------------------------// Gliding high above the clouds... worries seemed far away. Wind tickled beneath the wings... birds flew gently alongside with you for a bit, happily chirping a melody to praise another wonderful day... Equestria seemed completely silent and at in line with itself. Harmony, created by a single moment of silence. “T-twilight?” “...hu!?” “Oh... did I disturb you?” Fluttershy asked rubbing hoof-tips at one another “I'm sorry” “N-o... not at all. Was just thinking of something else” it smiled “What is it?” “I thought, uhm... if you don't mind... I really would like to visit my cottage... check on my animals?” puppy eyes were given, more or less accidentally. A hoof waved “Sure. I won't need your help to read a book or two... but it's good to have some company” as the mare flapped a bit to keep the pegasus height “How about you take care of everything and we meet up at the castle?” “That be wonderful!” it cheered a bit to much, as the mare's yellow cheeks turned red “I mean, I will try to hurry...” the two giggled a bit about this loosen up moment. Soon enough, after an hour of flight Ponyville came in sight. Nothing felt better then coming home after a couple hard days... oh and what kind of days those were! … ugh... “So uhm... bye~!” it waved one last time and... one more after that, before the element of kindness turned into a long bow, heading for the house on the edge of town. Only on this remote edge was enough space to hold bunny's and chicken, ferrets and birds, as many well many many more, alongside a howl grown bear without disturbing neighbors day and night. Saying this shy mare had a hoof for animals, would been an understatement. Twilight landed with flapping wings right in front of the castle, after which the first few friendly faces welcomed her with waving hooves “Hey, how are you doing!?” it smiled friendly. This town sure had grown to her... “I'm fine, but you know- princess stuff” it came casual, trying to not get hooked into a chit chat. Clock was ticking and a book wouldn't read itself. Unless she found the right spell... but where would be the fun in that!? Twilight had picked up the untouched book right away. Barely able to finish the index, before Rainbow interrupted her -twice... or actually three times, since she hat left her behind to deal with a bunch of panicky passengers. “Finally! Study time!” Twilight cheered silently, since Spike had fallen asleep in a comfy armchair nearby with a comic in his claw. How one could fall asleep during reading was beyond Twilight's understanding. The hoof tip then was licked, ready to add new vibrant knowledge into her arrangement. “Twi... hey, Twilight?” it nudged. “Uhh... S-Spike?” the mare rubbed eyes “Ho-owww...” it yawned “...late is it?” Twilight's head rose, causing the dragon get a look on her face “Hahaha!” Spike burst into laughter “Huh... what's so funny?” “Oh nothing, really! - but you gotta lend me that book some time, looks like it left... quite an impression! HAHAH!” Spike laughed even harder, making her raise a suspicious eyebrow. A flash let a mirror appear to find an exact copy of what she had read last, printed all over her face. Apparently laying face first in a new book could do that “Ugh... very funny” it came a tad grumpy, but not without a smile. She could see the humor in that. While Twilight was busy scrubbing stubborn ink away, the baby dragon took a curious look into the book. Apparently it was all about delicious gems! One of his favorite meals “Is that for my birthday?” it asked hopefully, despite the fact it would take another six months. Maybe his friend was planning just way ahead... not to far fetched if you asked him. “Actually, i was looking for a blue stone” the cheek rubbing mare replied “I guess I must been fallen asleep after sapphires...” “Slumberstone. The name refers to the raw nature of the stone. 1#Unaltered: these stones are commonly used in dreamcatcher's...” this rose an eyebrow “-w-wait!” the book was taken away to find exactly what she had been looking for all over “How you found this so quickly!?” “... it was right on the next page?” the dragon replied sheepishly with a hand on his neck. Flap... flap... - of course it was! As Spike hold paws onto his snot to not laugh loudly, about Twilight pulling a face about this rather underwhelming discovery to continue where Spike had left off. “... since its believed it's natural magic ability's ease pony's into a restful and deep slumber, allowing the /sleeper/ to channel his spiritual energy's.” “Just like this book! Ha!” Spike snapped into wild laughter “HAHhaaa!” continuing to the point tears of joy had to wiped away, before all funny had found its way out. Once the dragon had fetched his breath, he found Twilight to frown at him for the past two minutes “Oh come on, it was funny!” the dragon threw his arms up. “Your so called joke contains valuable information!” “Ye whatever! ...unless you plan to get me page twelve to twenty five in a bowl, I think i'm not quite hooked” it shrugged without caring about any of it, before heading downstairs. All this gem talk could raise ones appetite! “2#Altered or 'awoken': this refers to Slumberstones in it's enchanted state. Crafted into an item the stone will bind it to the handler and protect it from foreign sources of magic as long the bond isn't revoked. Items such as, but not solely: amulets/wands/chests/armor. “Binding... a magic bond? Hmm...” “Uhm... Twilight?” Fluttershy peeked into the study, finding the mare beneath hooves starring holes into a book “Oh, you look busy” the door was about to close “Maybe I just... come back later” the coy mare mumbled. “Huh? Fluttershy?” the face tilted before coming up entirely “It's fine, you can come in!” While the shy pegasus quietly closed the door, Twilight's hoof smudged along the cheek to make sure the wasn't another copy printed across her face again. “I didn't want to disturb your work” “You didn't. In fact, I just finished... ” this and a nervous smile was all the answer the pegasus got before the mare tried once again to challenge the ink to a staring contest, which seemed rather unusual for Twilight the chatty student. A discovery... -any discovery, usually would cause an endless stream of information's linking into a hoof full sub-topics. Rattling them down in no particular order till clarity was out of sight, just to sum it up in nothing more then a hoof full simple words. Like she should to begin with. “Twilight?” Fluttershy leaned in further to find a worrisome expression on her friends face “... is it something you found out that is worrying you?” “Is it that obvious?” “Uhm... well... y-es” it nodded shortly. Leaning back on the purple flank, a hoof brushed along her mane in order to sort thoughts. “Let's start with the good news then: I think I found a weak spot. I mean, I can't be a hundred percent sure till we returned to Canterlot, but if i'm right there is a pretty good chance we can... turn it off” the shoulders shrugged, since it all seemed so simple. The idea being to flick the switch and hope the lights go out. Not much harder then handling a night light. A revelation which seemed so obvious, so easy to exploit, one had to wonder why Sombra created them this way? Was he afraid they would get out of hoof? Was this his backup plan all along? It just seemed like a gamble the mad king would been more then willing to take! A pony willing to curse an Empire on the off chance of losing the fight. “Now that does sound like good news!” the pegasus clapped it's hooves in order to cheer for a brief moment! Pok! Pok! Pok!.... Pok? “Oh” Now, that was awkward, apparently cheering all alone “I guess there are bad... news?” “We will need Princess Luna” “...” “We ain't out of the woods yet” Twilight agreed on the silence “However, there is one more thing. Remember how I said there might be more?” the head turned towards the window through which you could see a wonderful sunny day, barely a cloud in the sky despite the lack of a certain weather-pony in Ponyville “I was wrong. There is just one of them” the pony turned back to her friend to start walking in a long half circle across the room and around the desk in their midst “Not just wouldn't it make any sense to send only one of those at a time, after the first stone was acquired, but its already past noon and nothing happened! The attacks were always in the morning and look-” the hoof pointed towards the window and the sun hanging high in the sky “We haven't received as much as a hearsay! No attack. No thievery or as much as a threat against us. I'm convinced that Luna damaged the one we saw so badly, it might bought us a day or two” the purple hoof suddenly knocked onto the table, causing the pegasus to straighten up “We might don't know what the puppet-master is up to, but for now his strings are cut and we have time on our side! And I got the feeling, he will be quite talkative once he can't hide behind his marionette anymore" Twilight felt kinda smug about this one, apparent by the bright smile on display. It was one thing to terrorize pony's from behind the curtain, but another to face justice in person! The puppet-master, whoever it was, could consider himself lucky if Twilight was the Princess to lay the first hoof on him... “T-then shouldn't we better hurry?” “Indeed. We shouldn't waste any more time. Let's head back to Canterlot and meet up with the others” the princess trotted back the way she came to head for the door to stop on the handle “Don't you worry, we got this. Together!” “Twilight!” it then echoed through the castle, causing the mares ears to twitch “Twilliiight!” the screaming got louder seconds the dragon failed to make the last turn and slammed on the stomach- sliding right past the library door “Ough!” “Spike!? -are you okay?” A purple glow picked up the baby dragon, which still held a tight grip on a scroll in his claw “Here... from the princess!” the loyal friend rose the paper, which wore a royal seal in its middle. A golden alicorn imprinted on it. “Please don't tell me...” the magic faded away as the grip swapped from dragon to scroll in order to read it right away, sending the purple helper painful back to the ground “ughf!” “S-sorry!” Eyes flew across the paper, reading the message faster then the final chapter of Bygone Griffons of Greatness “Uhu... oh... now this is... hm!?” “What does it say?” Fluttershy dared to peek over her friends winged shoulders, while Spike was back up on his feet and rubbing his snout which had taken most of the landing. “Apparently Cadance needs our help in the Crystal Empire... - they revealed the truth about 'the weapon' and... sweet Celestia! No! - their citizens on the border of mass panic! Apparently many of them are forming riots, which the guard has to disperse... - the empire's can't deal with that! Not as long the royal guard has to protect their borders! Not just could that thing slip right past them, pony's could get hurt even without an attack!” “Oh my! That's awful!” Fluttershy gasped for Spike to join in on the pegasus panic “What we gonna do!?” he ran two quick circles around himself, while the alicorn thought quietly. “I got it” the hoof pointed at the purple baby to materialize a quill and paper into his claws “Spike take a letter! Dear Cadance, i'm sorry to hear that the empire is in such unrest and would love nothing more then being there with you... however, I can't” “W-ait what? Can't? As in... you won't go to the empire!?” Spike looked up from the scroll, since he thought he hadn't heard that one quite right. “No Spike, i won't. Me and Fluttershy must return to Canterlot at once. I'm pretty sure we found a way to end this madness from there. As much the Empire needs us, we have to deal with the source first” “- but then the Crystal Pony's will descend into chaos!” “Yes, that's why i'm sending you to go there!” the hoof pointed. “Twilight, I know you trust me and all, but what can I do? I'm just a baby dragon! I can't possibly fight off thatS-sombrathing!” A poof magic teleported the mare half a meter forward and right on the side of the shivering dragonfriend, which was barely half her size. One could easily be fooled to think this dragon was a pushover, yet found to be surprised that Spike-Wickey could hold his ground against most young stallions when it came to raw strength. Not to forget his thick dragon scales, which allowed him not just to walk through fire, literally, but also to absorb a lot of punishment without leaving as much as a mark, while possessing fire breath and remarkable sharp claws to dish out pain on its own! ...sadly, it would take Spike another one hundred years of aging to be a match, despite all these unique perks on his side. “Spike, i'm not counting on you to fight a metal beast with your bear claws” a wing was spread and laid around the assistants shoulders in order to pull him close against the rather soft pony flank “- but you are an idol for the pony's within the empire. Ever since you saved them from Sombra's clutches, they knew they can trust you! Now, who would be better suited to take away their fears and remind them that they are not alone? This way the guard can perform their duty... and we can end this long before anything happens” Purple cheeks turned red, while Spike couldn't help to feel proud that Twilight trusted him as much to play such an important part in her strategy. Being the foundation of order for an entire Empire... ! “Yeah! You know, I think I can do that!” The little dragon hopped forward to face Twilight again and show of his biceps like the local albino bodybuilder Bulk Biceps “I will go to the empire and bring these pony's to order! ~ or my name won't be Spike the brave!” the finger pointed towards the ceiling in a half kneeling pose, trying to resemble a marble statue of some kind? Or just copying one of the comic covers... Twilight wasn't sure about that. “Now there, don't get carried away” magic brought 'the brave' back on his feet “They do adore you, but you won't have any time to write autographs- you got that? - best course of action for you would be to meet up with Cadance or Shining Armor. My brother will probably know best where they need you the most” “No problemo!” the dragon saluted one more time before running towards his room to pack a few things. “~and don't forget to send the message!” it shouted after, which resolved in a bright green light flashing up a couple seconds later, as well Twilight roll her eyes for a bit. “Uhhhh-” a hoof was put on her chest while taking in air “Ugghhhh!” to breath out long and deep with a moan. A relaxing method Princess Cadance had shown her a while ago. It did help a lot to get stress levels back down again! “... let's better hurry back to Canterlot, before another disaster strikes!” Disaster however was out of order, about to put itself back together one screw at a time. “Urwrw~” the gray hunk mourned, trying to handle a crowbar. Ramming the crude tool with gusto – PowWngkchk! ...into a crack nearby the busted lock mechanic. This darn demon had burned the last bit of grace this machine hat to offer, leaving barely enough intact to stand upright. Most coolant had been vaporized in an instant and the rest of the acid containing brew spilled across guts, before it would leak through the holes in his chest onto the ground beneath. It was likely town's pony's would find the breadcrumbs and knock at his door eventually “Gruh~ nevermind!” the crowbar was thrown aside with a ~ponk! Why even bother!? It's a wreck! “GAaH!” the remaining hoof wiped frustrated all tools of the workbench, sending them clattering to the ground. Two of which being twisted wrenches. A first failed attempt to unlock the mechanism manual, yet the darn thing must been molten inside. Not to mention the hoof eye coordination was busted, causing most tools to be utterly useless. All of which just the tip of the iceberg! Where to even start... !? Oil was leaking out of every crack, the hydraulic pump was rattling loud enough to be heard upstairs and probably the reason the right hind-leg was out of commission. Stereo hearing was gone, an ear lost in the nearby forest. A trail of coolant had been left across the entire area and his voice box, which at its best had been at best 'capable' – now delivered a tin wiry buzzing on every syllable uttered! So once pony's from the nearby town would follow the green breadcrumbs to his doorstep he was done for. No hiding in synthetic fur, since the last one was burned of his skin with the might of the sun itself! “Ughhhhhhh~ ponk!” the bulky head plunged grunting onto the desk, tilting slowly to the side. Not intentional. Spine or muscle... who cares. Yet coming into focus was the cause of more trouble then the entire rest combined. This darn left hoof! Always: this hoof! This piece of junk, clinging to this body on nothing more then a broken joint “Y-~ouw know... thiz darn hoof “Ie nevaur could get it touw uw~ork properly...” it was the same hoof on which he had screwed the valve upside down. The one breaking after the cliff jump of Galloping Gorge! … and despite seeing it coming, checking everything twice: went limp minutes before the attack nearby Blatimare, forcing him to 'improvise'. It was cursed, what else could it be!? “~huh...haahuhuh hahaww... gettwing up withz the wrong hoof?” History being thrown off rails. Empires falling. Years of misery, spend in a lonesome basement. All of which caused by something mundane as getting up with the wrong hoof! “Hahahahuhhfhffchhh~” the hoof scratched along the side of his cheek, trying to take in this rare moment of bittersweet joy, before it came to rest on his forehead since the amount of relief was hardly enough to cancel the buzzing between his ears. It took a hefty pull on 'the strings' to lift his remains of his thick metal flank. The broken hoof was dragged along. The right front and left hind ones did their job. The right hind-leg had been locked in place, like a crutch. Lucky he had install those valves! All it took was to close the outlet and it was good to go! Good for the circumstances of course. On the way from the left to right he had leaned against the edge of the counter, shuffling along the workstations to bend or break drawer handles once in a while, over which he now had to step back using the same method. Closely followed by a trail of chestnuts red oil and unicorn blue coolant. Falling onto the flank, the good hoof reached for the pearl. A slick marble waiting in a bowl, bathing in a mild cleaner during the pointless attempt to ~ … the horse blinked. Gray? … the head turned in a staggering motion to give a glance towards a nearby lamp... which still had a blue glow to it. Then came back to the pearl. Gray. Dull gray. Not... - ho- wa~hy... !? … … !? Realization took a minute to materialize, but it did. First slow and gentle, like a snowflake landing in your hoof, yet the picture – the vast dimension of the betrayel grew rapidly, like a snowball to the face! And before the horse could do as much shake off the first painful sting~ the rest had found its way into his consciousness and there was no escape! Rushing downhill with a ROOooaaAAR! Quickly covering the entire horizon to built itself up in front of his hooves and crush the pony to pieces in the blink of an eye, wiping away everything in its way... “Gr~a....AARRrhhhhhhh!” ~PFAMWRRCHH!” the desk exploded into splinters and the gem into dust! Swatting a shelve halfway across the room by a swing of the hoof and grabbing during a half turn onto the next best thing: a vice on the ground – blowing the blue light out! “YARR!” Causing the vice to get stuck in the wall as splinters and sparks rained onto the floor as the light source had died “Gah~” Hastily sitting up ~ to fast to find balance, the horse quickly tilted and stumped a couple meters- couldn't find anything to hold onto and crashed heavily into a cabinet! Ckrrrrchhhieeekk-FOMP!~tschhhhhhhhhh.... flattening it to barely more then a pan, before finally coming to rest. Muscles hissing as the last spats of air were pushed out his body. …and then there was silence. Silence in an otherwise blank landscape.