//------------------------------//
// Chapter 19. Lab Rat Days, Part 10 
// Story: Meta Gamer in Equestria: The Blight of Bane. 
// by reflective vagrant 
//------------------------------//

The room I was in quickly faded away.  I lost all sight, smell, and hearing.  I could still feel the floor and Fluttershy's hoof held tightly in my hand, but otherwise I was cut off.
Soon I felt that presence that swept me into whatever state I was in dissipate.  It wasn't gone, but it seemed to be all around and inconsistent.  It felt as if I were in the middle of a pile of dust being stirred up or like the static of an old TV screen that had nothing plugged into it, but from all angles around me at once.  I still couldn't see anything, though.  This was more akin to how one would know what part of a room they were in from memory even when their eyes were closed than actual physical sensory.
I also felt two more concise forms that I could tell were Zecora and the Speaker, but they felt distant.  It was like they were the only two fans in a stadium, looking down at a field from the stands.  I thought I felt Tree Hugger next to me for a split second, but that immediately faded.

Then came the voice.  It spoke, in a way, but not in clear words.  Concepts were coming together and projecting themselves in my mind.  My mind then put words to some aspects, and visual effects to others.
"Star Rider," I "heard" from the odd, incorporeal presence.  As it relayed this thought in what I could only describe as the equivalent of a calm tone, I saw what looked to be a meteor crashing down to the forest.  As quickly as the image entered my mind, it was gone.
The voice continued again and again, showing me scene after scene.  Some images, while crisp and being logged into my memory without trouble, were brief, others took a little more time.   I saw the image directly in my mind, and didn't have to spend time focusing my eyes and searching through a photo.  I saw all of each image as it appeared, all at once.
"Crow Feeder."  I saw several birds eating at the pickings that were being tossed to them at the side of a lake.
"Life Cherisher."  A loud whaling could be heard, as a humanoid with a spear ran towards the sound.
"Toril Blessed."  I saw a scene with a Zebra being jumped by a wolf, with her humanoid companion changing into a bear in response.
"Fury Embracer."  I saw that same bear in a different scene pick up a log and tear it in half with its raw power and subsequently roaring.
"Sin Confessor."  A pair of bowls being filled with palms full of sand.
"Fury Embracer." A pegasus was tossed by a humanoid who had its back up against a tree.
As the next image came, I could feel a cloth being put to my cheeks in the real world.
"Fate Bender."   A dog could be seen attacking an armed pony, an unusual emphasis was placed on the humanoid that appeared to be doing nothing and the dog slowed down immediately after, just missing the armored pony's throat.
"Humility Accepter."   A crowd of ponies could be seen shouting at a humanoid, who simply stood there silently while another pony defended him.
"Serenity Seeker."  The humanoid stood up with two ponies next to him, purposely avoiding a third pony that was snarling at him as he walked away.
"Life Cherisher."   A group of animals looked upon a kneeling humanoid as he held a collapsed pony.
"Shame Bearer."  A humanoid stood in the middle of a room, moving as if he were speaking, unaware of the crowd of ponies forming around him.
"Life Cherisher."  A small satyr stood next to a bench in a park and gestured to the humanoid to follow as he turned to walk away.  The humanoid did so.
"Fury Embracer."  A bear fought alongside a griffon and dog to take down an armored humanoid.
"Fate Bender."  A scene were a griffon swung a mace at a skeleton played, slowing as the griffin made its second swing, the direction changing subtly. Then the mace landed true, shattering the skull of the skeleton.
"Fury Embracer." A humanoid yelled at a griffin and pony while holding the broken remains of a bottle in his open hand.
"Life Cherisher."  A screaming humanoid could be seen, huddled in a panic over the dying body of a pony. A vibrant energy emerged from the humanoids lips and the pony jumped with life.

As the last image faded, I could feel the static surrounding me become more lively, as if making itself purposely known.
The essence of the static flowed in and out of me in rapid, but not aggressive, motions.   As it did so, I felt parts of me awaken.  It wasn't so much knowledge or innate know how, like the wizard spells or cantrips, but rather understanding.  It was almost overwhelming.  I understood how to ask for many things.  I could ask for healing, to move unnoticed, for food and many, many other things. I even discovered what I was doing wrong with the animal speaking spell I could barely cast before.  It was all potentially available to me, though some was still too strong for my current ability, and I could only contain so much at once.
This was the spell casting of the druid.  One didn't force it like with other forms.  One asked and the Animus Mundi would work through them to answer.  It wasn't know how that wove the spells.  It was her wisdom that she focused through me when I asked for her aid.
"Fury Embracer."  The voice imposed one last time.  This time, however, the image had no particular context.  It was just a flame burning and nothing else as I felt another bit of understanding coming to me.  It was more rudimentary than the spells just before, being woven more thoroughly and becoming permanently infused into me.
After that, the image faded and everything calmed down. I felt the static get fuzzy, for lack of better word, and almost warm in its aura.
"Joy from your presence, son of Gaia."
I sat there relishing in the sheer amazement of what I felt from that aura for a few moments.  I felt like I could just sit there for hours, but I felt something hit me, hard.





I slowly came to as I felt punch after punch to my face.  The presence faded and the real world came back.
I shoved Tree Hugger off of me, who finally stopped punching me upon seeing me move.
"What in the world was that about!?"  I called to her.  Pressing the amulet I found was around my neck again, I repeated the question.
"Sorry about that, fish dude," she called as she wiped the blood off of her hoof.
Princess Celestia came up.  "We didn't think your first connection would be that strong.  We were expecting you to feel a few sensations while still being aware of us, maybe a whisper or two, but your connection was pried open from the other side.  At least that's what Zecora said a moment ago."
Tree Hugger looked at me and bowed apologetically. "The Animus Mundi must have needed to get a lot off her chest to pull you in that deep.  When we noticed you weren't responding, I had to stimulate your remaining senses to think you were in danger so that you would lose your center and come back to us.  Otherwise you'd be stuck in there for, like, a really long time.  It takes time to learn how to navigate connections that deep."
Zecora came up to me, with one of her potions for me to apply to my face.  Her own face had a slew of emotions within it.
She turned to the room as soon as I started applying the potion. "His magics are far beyond what I had known, as if evolved in a war zone.  His magic in origin, from Equis is not.  From the other world it was brought.  A powerful destroyer could sprout from his inner flame."
She looked at me.  "Though his spirit may have the strength to keep it tame."
She bent down to bow to me, her front knees hitting the floor.  "My past mistakes can not be excused, nor undone, but my apologies and counsel are yours to take as you wish..."  She gave a slight pause for emphasis. "...Gaia's son."
The Speaker came forward with mixed feelings too, though more notably negative.  Turning to Celestia, he twitched and spoke with measured irritation.  "He's still a potential threat, with the raw power I saw in him just now.  Yet he's the lesser of two evils, and not associated with the invaders.  Put him to work and we will uphold our end.  I need to get back to my village."
Celestia turned to me with an uneasy smile.  "I think it is safe to dispose of this now."
She bent her horn down to my neck and released the collar from it.
The collar hit the ground as we made eye contact. She then spoke to me again, "I need to take counsel with the other leaders for a moment before I get to the details with you.  Feel free to take a stroll if you need to clear your head after that, but please don't stray far from the castle so that we can call you when we are ready."






I asked Sunburst to accompany me and Sharp Sentry to a walk around the castle grounds.
"That was fascinating!  So many new details!"  Sunburst exclaimed to nopony in particular.  With a spring to his step, he practically pranced circles around me while I marched and tried to sort my thoughts out.
"Hey," I called to him in a melancholy tone while pressing on my amulet. "Can I ask you something?"
He slowed his pace just enough to keep by me, though still clearly excited.  "Certainly."
"Zecora said my magic was from the other land.  Is that bad?  Are my new spells going to throw the balance out of whack?  Did I end up polluting the Animus Mundi with new magic?"
He stopped his giddy mannerisms and lost his smile.  "Oh!  I see what you're concerned about.   While I'm not a servant, I have studied the Animus Mundi from a mage's perspective for some time.  So I think I can address those worries."
He reset himself and gave me a calm but confident smile.  "I think what Zecora was talking about when she said 'evolved in a war zone' was what you would call your game's spell slot system.  Natives of Equis don't use lumps of internal energy to wield our magic like you appear to do.  Ours is more fluid, like a well we draw upon and steadily replenish."
We sat down on a bench as I gave him my full auditory attention while blankly staring at the ground.
"The difference is that it is far easier for you to cast a spell in the heat of the moment in a battle, but more difficult to fuel spells for longer periods of time as we do, as your methods are less energy efficient.  We actually had to develop a technique to build up our energy to mimic the properties of your spell slots in the early stages of working with the spells from the spellbook that came with you."
He laughed a little. "We've sense managed to adapt them to something more suiting our methods of casting, but there were certainly some funny moments in the early parts with Starlight literally having the magic blow up in her face."
He shook his head and looked at me.  "The spells you have access to are most likely from the Animus Mundi of Equis.  Those were developed over eons and most are probably fairly universal between Animus Mundies of different worlds with similar life.  You are just more capable of accessing combat ready spells than most servants, because you have the concentrated energy packed in your spell slots to fuel them in the brief time they need to be cast to be practical."
"The only magic I think you brought over from the Animus Mundi of the other world that wasn't already present was your shape shifting into animals.  I have not seen any servant that has managed that in my studies before, at least not in the way you perform it.  The chances are slim, but even if some servants do learn to do it we already have natives that can shape shift naturally and it shouldn't throw off the balance of power significantly."
I gave a pained smile and pulled my eyes from the ground to look over to him.  "Thank you for easing some of my concerns.  But I have another I need to deal with too.  Is there some water nearby? A pond or a stream?"
He thought for a moment, then shook his head.  "Not in range to answer Princess Celestia when she summons you."
I gave a solid whimper.  "That sucks, but I need to know now."
"Know what?"  Sunburst asked me.
"I think I learned a new cantrip from the Animus Mundi when I was in there.  But that seems to imply something else that I need to test.  Just don't step on me, OK?  Stand back."
I stood up from the bench and made my way to a flat surface of grass while Sunburst and Sharp Sentry gave me a little distance and watched.
I took several deep breaths of air to the point of not quite being dizzy, then willed myself to change shape.
As soon as I did, I found myself flapping around on the ground in my new form, suffocating and getting my scales all dirty.  I immediately willed myself to change back.
With a gasp of breath, I laid there on the ground, wide eyed.
When Sunburst came up to me, I had caught my breath enough to speak.  "That confirms it," I said with great worry.
"That confirms what?"
I sat up on the grass.  "In the game, druids learn a new cantrip at level four.  Among other things, the character my form was designed after was a level three druid.   There is also another thing unlocked for druids at level four.  That's the ability to shape shift into swimming creatures.  I wasn't able to transform into a fish before, but I can now."
I gave a bitter laugh and flicked my fin ear.  "Not that I need it.  But it confirms I leveled up."
Sunburst adjusted his glasses and looked at me in concern. "Does that upset you?"
I closed my eyes, gave a huff and stood up.  "Upset me, no.  But it does make me worry about what's going to happen to me from here."
I turned back towards the way we came and opened my eyes.  "I think I'll just head back in and wait for the summons.  I got what I needed for the moment.  Dwelling on it won't do me much good right now."






We waited as close to the meeting room as I was allowed, though we only had to wait for a little bit before I was called.
Being escorted by an extra guard on top of Sharp Sentry, I was taken to a room I had never seen before.
Upon entering, I saw several different creatures sitting at a large, round table.   I saw princess Celestia, the governing princess of the crystal ponies, Fluttershy and some of her friends from the party, including princess Twilight, a dragon that looked about six to seven inches shorter than I was, a more traditional eagle headed griffin that looked a bit larger and a great deal gruffer than Speaks with Talons, and finally Discord.  There was also a notably vacant seat that sat right next to Celestia's with Luna's symbol on it.
Princess Celestia looked at me with as much joy as she could muster through her stressed face.  "Thank you for staying near, Moss.  I think it's time we finally discuss what we need from you."