Kazemon of the Wind:
Those who Lurk in the Shadows:
Part two
“And that’s how I came here,” I said, as I finished telling my tale to everyone in the room.
I had just finished answering every question thrown at me and told everypony in the room of what I knew happened to me, and I was now gauging on how everypony was reacting. Not to my surprise, the eldest princess’ faces was completely neutral, nothing of their inner workings were showing, and that I made a bit nervous.
I pushed this feeling into the farthest part of my mind and looked at the others. Twilight, I think her name was, was feverishly writing down everything I had told her in the last 20 minutes. She was another one that scared me a little, I didn’t miss the hungry looks she was giving me whenever a new subject was brought up, like my ability to change species with ease.
Something told me that I should avoid Twilight for a while.
“So, let me get this straight,” Rainbow Dash asked, bringing me back to reality, and I looked at her. “You said you used to be a stallion, but somehow got turned into a filly, right?”
I nodded my head slowly, an uneasiness washing over me as I noticed something in the cyan pony’s eyes. To her credit, she did try to resist...for a total of five seconds before she fell onto her side and laughed like a crazy person. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes slightly, I had a feeling she was one of these types...still, I had to admire that she tried not to laugh.
“Rainbow Dash!!” Rarity shrieked softly, as she grabbed an old magazine from the stand, rolled it up and hit the winged pony on the head. “Stop that this instant!”
Rainbow had a look of annoyance on her face as she pushed the magazine away and stood up. “Oh, come on, even you got to admit it’s funny,” the young flyer said in her defense.
Rarity just huffed and brought her weapon to the front. “Regardless if it’s funny or not, I thought you would have known better. What if you have suddenly found yourself in a new place, with your body change beyond your own understanding?” the unicorn asked sharply.
This seemed to had struck a chord with Rainbow as she looked at her wings. She must had stared her wings for a solid minute, opening and closing them slowly. If I didn’t know any better, I would say she was imaging what it was like to have her pride and joy taken from her.
When she finally looked away from the limbs, she had a sympathetic look to her eyes aimed right at me. I might have a smiled at the gesture...if those looks still had any effect on me. If anything the look was making me uncomfortable. Thankfully, a wise pony decided to interject before things got too uncomfortable.
“I believe we have learned all we can for the time being,” Princess Celestia said in her regal but motherly tone. “We should let Zoe rest for now. We must also come to solution of where she would be staying for the time being.”
I noticed the look in Twilight’s eyes and she opened to her mouth…
“I will host her!” Rarity quickly said.
Everypony in the room, Rarity and myself included, were a little taken back by this sudden outburst, and immediately everypony was looking at her. Rarity let out a nervous giggle and played with her mane when she realized everyone was looking at her.
“I mean, since she told us that clothing is basically needed for her kind, I figure I could host her as I prepare more outfits for her,” the white unicorn said, in a surprisingly calm manner. “And I also have a spare room made, for when my dear parents need a place to stay. So I wouldn’t be stressing myself out with trying to find a place for her to rest.”
That...actually made sense, it would save me a trip to get whatever outfit she made from me, and it also would get me away from Twilight. I have nothing against the young princess, I just didn’t want to be turned into some sort of lab experiment. And since I didn’t know all the other that much, I figure the one pony I had at least one encounter with was probably the safest bet.
“I would be honored to stay at your place, Miss Rarity,” I said politely and bowed slightly.
Rarity looked at me, and it also looked like she wanted to say something. I, unfortunately, interrupted her when a big yawn escaped me. This seems to get everypony on the same page, and it wasn’t long before Princess Celestia was ushering every single pony out of the room in an orderly fashion.
“I believe we have overstayed welcome,” the elder princess said calmly. “We must let our young filly regain her energy before we can continue.”
“But, I have so much more to ask,” Twilight whined.
But the princess was having none of it, she just picked everypony up with her magic and filed out the door. Princess Luna was the last pony out, and she gave me a look before she closed the door leaving me alone with my thoughts. Or, she would have, if another yawn didn’t leave me, making me realize that I was still tired from everything that happened.
So, after a quick fluffing of my pillow, I lay down as I pulled the sheets up to my neck and tried to get myself comfortable. That little harder than I thought, my midsection was still in a bit of pain, but soon, I was about to find a position where pain didn’t shoot through it, and I drifted off into a dreamless sleep soon after.
(...)
“ARE YOU SURE ABOUT WHAT YOU SAW!” Dusk screamed angrily.
Xena just nodded her head, completely unphased by her master’s outburst. Duck growled fiercely and began to pace in a somewhat angry manner, the wind blowing his cloak wildly around him.
Currently, the cloaked figure and his changeling slave were in a chasm not too far from Griffonstone, where Duck search had led him to where he thinks another spirit was located. He was preparing to scale down the side when Xena had came to give her weekly report.
Needless to say, Dusk wasn't thrilled with what he heard.
“No, no, nononono!” He shrieked in a near erratic manner. “I didn’t expect that simpleton to figure out the tokens so soon. What if that trans finds one of the tokens I threw away? What if she finds one that knows of my plan!? I CAN’T LET ALL OF THESE YEARS GO TO WASTE!!”
Xena watched as her master pace back and forth, his steps become angrier with each passing second. The enslaved changeling didn’t know what had gotten her master so upset, but what was left of her free will told not to interfere.
Dusk started settling after a near ten-minute rant and took a couple of calming breaths. He looked at the chasm, thinking of what to do with this new development. He took his D-sector, and a plan finally took form, as a remember something he once overheard about the character the trans turned into. He exchanged the device for an old and beat-up tablet and opened it. After spending five minutes on the battered tool, Dusk turned his attention to his enslaved changeling.
“Xena, go into town and retrieve these items,” the cloaked figure listed off the items he needs and Xena took off once she was sure her master was finished issuing his orders.
Dusk watched as his changeling changed into a griffon with chocolate brown feathers and disappeared over the horizon. He next turned to the chasm’s mouth and jumped with a second thought, even though he didn’t have anything to support him.
“EXECUTE!! SPIRIT EVOLUTION!!!” Dusk screamed as a black light shines from the chasm, accompanied by the roar of a fierce beast.
(...)
It took Dusk roughly 40 minutes to find his prize and escape from the chasm, and to his annoyance, Xena hadn’t returned yet. It was nearly 15 later before the enslaved changeling returned with the items she was sent into town to retrieve.
“What took you so long?” the mysterious figure demanded impatiently.
“My deepest apologies, master,” Xena replied with a slight bow. “The griffons of that town were more problematic than I anticipated. In the end, I had to resort to stealing bits to get the items you wanted.”
“But you did get them, right?” Dusk demanded.
Xena nodded and took out the items from a bag, and Dusked looked at the four items. He grinned under his hood when he saw the large roll of fabric, the tatter belt, a hair tie, and a pair of glasses.
“Excellent,” he dusk moaned slightly, and then looked at his slave, “Now, Xena, I need you to listen very carefully to what I’m going to say.”
The enslaved changeling gave her master her undivided attention and the cloaked figure began to lay out his plan. Within five and half minutes, a magical circle had been carved into the ground, with Xena in the center and the four items encircling her.
“Now, I need you to as I told, and changed into the form I showed you,” Dusk said coldly, “Do you think you can handle that.”
“Yes, Master,” Xena replied without hesitation. “Though would be difficult as I had never tried to take a form like what you want before.”
“Don’t worry your simple little head over that detail,” Dusk retorted confidently, as he pulled out a spell book from within his cloak. “Now change!”
Xena nodded and began to change; her sickly green fire began to emerge from the tips of her back legs. Dusk chanted in old Ponyish, and the magic circle began to activate.
The item became infused with magical energy, siphoned from the changeling as Xena was lifted from the ground at the same the items started to glow. The changeling’s green flames had reached the joints of her back legs when something odd began to happen. The flames compressed tighten to the changeling’s body and the parts of the body that flames had covered were starting to change, expanding and becoming a more slender built.
Dusk grinned as the sound tearing fabric filled the air, and Xena’s flames had covered nearly her entire being, with her head being the only thing uncovered. At this point, the items the changeling had gathered were orbiting around her, moving so fast that a ring of light had almost been created. The last bit of Xena was consumed by her flames as the items’ speed had reach the point that the bug-like creature was nearly unseeable in the light the items were emitting.
Dusk began to cackle to himself when the items began to close in on his changeling slave, and with one burst of light, one that mysterious figure needed to avert the spell was complete. Dusk looked back at the changeling and couldn’t help but admire his work.
“She turned out better than I hoped. With this plan in motion, that simple trans should be to busy to collect these blasted tokens,” Dusked mused to himself, and cackled to himself again as he said, “And this should allow me to collect the wind spirits sooner than I originally planned.”