Breakfast was interesting. Night Life stopped by Dawn's house to drop off a plate of Cooked Berries. A strange thing to actually eat, but it turned out okay. Each Berry was cooked between two rotating logs of wood then saturated in honey. Strange, but surprisingly good.
Dawn ate the delicacy in her living room and went back to her tomes immediately after. A few Dark Magic spells lied open on the floor in front of the bench for studying and horn alight following instructions. What she could honestly say about Founder's Island was the silence. It was so peacefully quiet here. There were only around fifty ponies here and nothing else to do. No enemies, no bills, barely any struggling. You were just... Alive here. Nothing but to live out their eternal lives stuck on an island with nothing to do. Dawn would've gone insane by this point.
There was no way she was going to sit here and do nothing for years to come. As the world passed her by she lied in the dark watching. No. That wasn't her style. That mountain held answers. Answers she needed. She was going to get those answers. And she knew exactly how.
Dawn rudely changed into an excited First Light who asked, "Oooh, what are we reading?" She flipped the page and turned to a whole other spell before Dawn took over once again.
She groaned loud and scolded, "First Light! This is delicate! We have to be careful or we'll mess up and cause a problem!"
Of course. It was always what she couldn't do. First Light groaned in her head and pouted, "We should really get our own bodies. It's not fair, you know."
Dawn knew what she meant. She didn't know how she felt, but she knew it was hurting her heart that she was trapped inside with nothing to do. Her heart ached for release.
Dawn sighed and reasoned, "If there is a spell, I promise we will do what it takes to get you your own body. You've been inside long enough."
She felt the magic shift inside her. "Really?" First Light hopefully asked. "You mean it?"
"Believe it or not, you are my little sister and I care about you."
"We're twin sisters."
Dawn shook her head and flipped back to where she was before. "Actually, mom was pregnant with me first before she was almost killed and had to use her magic to keep me alive, which in turn created you. I'm older than you by a few months. Now, you wanna help me search for this spell?"
Dawn's left eye turned from violet to a pitch black so First Light could see what Dawn was seeing. "What spell?" She asked.
"Figure Transfiguration. A spell that will allow me to shape shift. I have no bones so it should be completely painless for me to do so to myself. To just bend magic into a shape. You and I are living proof that it's possible. We just have to find it."
First Light moved around in Dawn's body again and mentioned, "You know... I don't think that has ever been done. To actually take on a real shape other than... A shadow, I guess."
Dawn lifted her left hoof so both she and First Light could see half of it drift off like a black cloud. No fur, bones, blood, skin, nothing. Just... Darkness. Dawn murmured, "Yeah, it's creepy." She summoned her hoof back into place and flexed it.
"But we should be able to morph our magic into anything. Like Cormo. Yeah?"
Dawn shrugged and answered, "Of course but we still have to add everything else. And that requires another spell."
"Mom did say that complex spells require combinations, remember? If we can get those spells we can do this. But... Why are we doing this?"
Dawn flipped to another page since the previous one didn't have what she was looking for and answered, "For one, we don't have anything else to do, and two? We need to get to that mountain. Without being spotted. Something strange is going on here."
Movement in her peripheral attracted her attention to the left next to her fireplace. Juniper and Sky Blue were sleeping the time away piled on top of each other. It was really cute and precious. How quiet they slept.
"Why don't we just turn into a cloud and fly up there?" Dawn stopped reading and glanced up nonchalantly to the fireplace. Then glanced to the side with slightly rose cheeks. "Never thought of that, huh?"
"...you occupy that part of my brain," Dawn excused. She could feel First Light roll her eyes. "But we still need to get to that cave. Come on." Dawn stood up and bent the page she was on in half to keep it to herself. Then closed the book. She could read that later.
Her hooves trotted around to her pets. Sleeping peacefully and elegant. Until she nuzzled Sky Blue and Juniper. They shifted and untangled themselves to look up to Dawn and that smile. She shot her head to the left and said, "Come on. We're trying again. Without interruptions."
Dawn wrapped them in her hooves and without a moment's delay, dissolved all three into a mist and floated through one of the home's front windows back outside. She was definitely getting in this time.
Canterlot was one of Equestria's calmer side. Even though most ponies would say it was Manehattan, that wasn't entirely true. Manehattan was too much city for Princess Flurry Heart and one of her best friends.
Living Sounds. A mare with a long dark purple mane with a gradient of light purple, a light blue coat, and light blue eyes. She and Flurry met many years ago in middle school in an art class and have been close ever since. And she's proud to have her as one of her best friends. She's always been there for her during tough times, and this was no different.
Living Sounds usually gets the inside scoop on what happens inside the castles when Flurry tells her. This time was a lot more serious. Saddle Row's Milly's Sandwiches was always their hangout spot. Tables outside to enjoy the air and loving atmosphere of Canterlot while still holding a thick conversation with your best friends.
Sounds listened to Flurry explain while drinking a smoothie and only interrupted with a subtle nod and head gesture before she wrapped up the story. After she did, she popped the straw out of her mouth and smack her lips before speaking in that rough yet equalized voice of hers.
"Well it seems that we finally managed to make another country extremely upset, right? I'm really sorry about your cousin. I don't know what it's like to lose family I just met."
Flurry glanced away and replied despondently, "Yeah. She may have been awkward, but she was still pretty cool. I even had a dream about her last night. She was telling me to come and save her from some place she was trapped in." And that was one intense dream. Flurry remembered it plain as day. The white atmosphere around here, and how real it seemed. Dawn literally appeared out of nowhere telling her desperately to "research a land lost in time."
Living Sounds whistled a descending tone and replied, "Well that's scary. So what's next? The Zebras, right? You're upset Aunt Twilight wants them to die?" Flurry sighed and sadly nodded. "I don't know much about like Friendship and stuff, but from what I hear the Princess of Friendship doesn't... You know... Go around killing ponies."
Flurry wasn't so sure if Aunt Twilight could even be called the Princess of Friendship anymore. She's so angry right now she could do anything. Flurry could see the pain in her eye. The one filled with an eternal rage. A violet inferno of power.
Flurry grabbed her own shake and started slurping away her fear. She mumbled around her straw, "Well none of that really matters. She wants those Zebras. And if we don't hand them over, I have no doubts that she'll send an army this way just to search for them. And if we put up a defensive line, they're going to blow us all up."
Living Sounds widened her ice blue eyes and queried, "Can she even do that?"
"She has to sign a form and it has to go through their Court which would take up to a week, but yes. She just did it to the Zebras. Psera doesn't joke around here. And I have a feeling Queen Twilight doesn't have to do much to get her way."
Living Sounds commented, "Your family is the worst choice to start drama with. Your dad, your mom, all three of your aunts, jeez. Now you're dragged into it." Living Sounds sighed and slurped through her milkshake.
Flurry shook her head and asked, "Any idea on what we should do?"
Living Sounds pointed to herself in surprise and asked, "You're asking me? I say hoof them over. The Zebras attacked a very powerful country twice and definitely knew they were going to strike back. And hard. And they did after the first attack, so I learned. But yet they did it again. Now there's nothing they can do but accept the consequences. Yes, I know the children are innocent. But Psera is still asking for those Zebras. And if we want to save our own hides, then we have to hoof them over."
Her logic was definitely sound. But Flurry Heart knew her Aunts, mom, and Dad weren't just going to hoof them over to the Pserateps. Because they wanted all of them gone. As in no Zebras left.
But Flurry didn't say anything. She just went back to her drink and looked away. Into the eyes of a pony staring at her across the street. Correction. Smoldering at her.
Well that's freaky. There was literally a pony sitting down on the sidewalk eyeing her. Nopony ever eyes her. A mare with a light green coat, chilling ice blue eyes that stuck out most above everything else and a light orange-red mane.
Flurry stopped slurping and locked eyes with her before a pony crossed between the both of them close to where Flurry was sitting. Then she was gone.
Flurry popped her straw out of her mouth and jabbed an urgent hoof to where she was before. She looked at Living Sounds and asked, "Did you see that?"
She followed her hoof towards where she was before. Now vacant save for a cup on the ground. Sounds nodded and answered, "Yeah, littering is disgusting."
"No, th-the pony! Somepony was staring at me! She was orange and had scary ice blue eyes! She was a Pegasus!"
Oh boy. Living Sounds looked to the purple sky showing the setting sun. "I think it's time we started back home, Flurry," she decreed. "Your parents could get paranoid, and my parents aren't going to be any better."
It was obvious Living Sounds didn't believe her. She rarely believes anything she can't see herself. So Flurry let it drop. For now. But she knew what she saw. She wasn't imagining things.
It wasn't long until they got back onto the train and were riding through snow and ice for the Crystal Empire. The ride was always quiet and serene. Everyone were doing their own thing to pass the time such as reading, writing, quietly speaking with each other, or staring out the window watching the snow and ice pass with the time. The seats were pretty much couches on a train. Allowing two per seat.
Flurry Heart was sitting on the outside of their seat while Living Sounds was on the inside staring out the window. Flurry's eyes were trained on the ceiling watching nothing at all. Her mind was on the pressure she was already subjected to. The war that was going to reach their shores. Flurry may only be a Princess "in training," but she was still very much aware that they needed a plan.
"It's hard, isn't it?" Flurry tilted her head towards the right side of the train and forgot how to breath and blink. That mare, the one she knew she didn't imagine. The one with those chilling light blue eyes and fire colored mane.
Now she was staring directly at her with a smirk. As in her whole body was facing her from the seat directly across. She looked to be in her early twenties and was a little taller than she was. Her voice was deep but still feminine.
Flurry shifted her wing to nudge Living Sounds and asked, "I'm sorry, were you talking to me?"
This mare nodded and answered, "Yes I was, Princess. I was talking to you. Equestria is going through a hard time, aren't they?" Her voice was smooth. Her words flowed out like fresh oil.
Living Sounds poked her head out on Dawn's right to get a good look at this pony while she and Dawn held their conversation. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you're talking about."
"I'm talking about the war approaching. You know, between the Pserateps and everyone else?"
No one knew about the war yet. They knew tensions were rising, but not the fact that blows were already sent. Flurry squinted and commented, "That is sensitive information you shouldn't have."
Sensitive? This pony ignored it and replied, "The Pserateps are a strong race and have been for centuries. They have developed advanced technology that no other could develop, took hold of a land made of gold, and have achieved evolutionary dominance over every last creature on the planet. And their current ruler is the God of Magic. It's kind of hard to hide their current events."
Their train finally left the snow and ice and pulled into view of the cool Crystal Empire. The tall spire of the castle was a glistening beacon of hope and promise in this cold atmosphere surrounded by crystal homes and shimmering ponies. Undeterred by the world around them.
The pony looked out the window as if they were admiring a painting and continued her speech. "But even though they have achieved and excelled greatness, they—like all other creatures—have flaws and weaknesses that even they are not aware of. For instance: Unlike a Pegasi, a Pseratep's ears are bigger, thicker, and wider. This is so they can detect and hear movements far away from in front of them during their super fast flights and have time to adjust and maneuver. They fly so fast, they can barely see where they're going. They just know it's there by hearing.
"A Pseratep's tail is thicker than the average pony's and allows things to be hidden inside. But it's also more sensitive to the temperature and causes problems through the whole body. Psera's weapons are now powered by magic instead of science which in turn makes them vulnerable to outside attacks by the rest of the world through hacking. One wrong spell could disable an entire Aquata. And they're definitely coming here."
The Friendship Express slowed to a stop at the station and urged its passengers to gather their things. With haste, its occupants flooded the platforms with a goal to their families. Flurry was one of them.
She stood with Living Sounds with eyes glued on this pony with flopped down ears she just noticed. This pony was different. She reported no name. Just faces. Suspicious.
Fluury smoldered and asked, "How do you know so much about the Pserateps? No one in Equestria knows about the Pserateps."
"Well that's quite easy to explain." She slinked out of her seat and moved towards the door like the rest of the ponies. But what she had behind her made Flurry and Living Sounds gasp.
Wings. Long wings. Going on ten feet. Her ears were big and pointing straight up. Dawn quickly deduced in a whisper, "You're a Pseratep."
"Yes I am," she replied. Then hopped out the door and started to make her way into the Crystal Empire with Flurry on her tail. "And you're an Alicorn-Pseratep with a smaller gene. I have a lot of inside information."
Flurry zipped around and stared into those chilling eyes that spelled distrust to ask, "Are you a spy? I will call the guards on you."
"If I were, I wouldn't have told you about the Aquatas and our ears." She pointed up to her head and wiggled them around.
That was true, Flurry assumed. But there was still one question she had yet to ask. "What are you doing here in Equestria?"
This mare chortled and walked around Flurry to enter the Empire. "I live here. And I've been living here for decades. I was here before Twilight Sparkle left. When you were a foal."
Many many years? Flurry and Living Sounds flanked her sides while they moved for the castle. A shining beacon for all the ponies moving around. Living Sounds asked, "How have you been here that long and nopony noticed?"
"Because no one really cared until now. That's why I need to speak to your parents, Princess." She slowed down and faced Flurry Heart with that unsettling smirk and those cold eyes. "I can help you get past the Pserateps and their Army. I can help you stand a fighting chance."
As interesting as it sounded, it was all too sudden. Too out of the blue. Living Sounds made her concerns known by asking, "Why would you want to help us? What would you gain?"
She chortled and continued making moves for the castle. Her eyes narrowed to envision the nearing future. "Let's just say Psera and I have a really complicated relationship. They have something that belongs to me. Something that their Queen has in her possession."
The cave was much cooler than Dawn expected. Even though it was winter, her fur usually helped keep her warm. Not this time. When her form of black smog reformed through the trees, it bundled together to create her body and her pets.
In front of the cave held destroyed trees, dirt, and leaves that were falling on her and across her vision. The sounds were eerie. The breeze held a ghostly wail when it reached her ears. Small birds chirped and the leaves rustled a tune. This couldn't have become any creepy.
Fresh Dawn's left eye changed to pitch black so First Light could see.
"It's quiet here," she whispered. The only sounds were the breeze and ruffling of leaves.
Fresh Dawn set down Juniper and Sky Blue. Then slowly trotted to the cave with them following close to her sides.
"This entire mountain is quiet," she replied. "There aren't even any birds chirping. Let's not disturb it." With a final look over her shoulder, Dawn turned her horn into a light and trotted inside. She was scared, but she was also determined to get off this island. That was more important than her own fear.
The silence was intense. So thick Dawn's hooves, Juniper's panting and Sky Blue's nervous caws wouldn't change it. Walking through the cave was easy because there was only one way to go: Forward. But eventually the light from the world left and plunged them into darkness. Dawn's horn could only light so many feet ahead of them. Anymore and she would strain. So their speed slowed cautiously upon angling downwards into the mountain.
"I suggest we strengthen our magic when we get out of here," First Light suggested.
"Definitely," Dawn agreed. She looked down to Juniper walking between her hooves then back up. They've been walking through this cave for ten minutes. And only now did she realize they were nearing something.
There was a stone arch up ahead. Smooth and flawless. It contrasted greatly against the rest of this cave of jagged rock and stone, which meant...
Dawn shined her light on it and whispered, "That was made artificially. We're close."
"Finally," First Light groaned. Dawn was sure she felt her throw up her hooves. "This took forever."
As if she was the one walking. Dawn rolled her eyes and walked past it into a very large cavern. The end of the road. She could tell by the way her hooves sounded when she stepped inside and eyed the stone wall across from her. There was something on it that she couldn't make out. So she slowly stepped further in for a closer look.
The second Dawn's right hoof pressed against the cold stone, a light red ring surrounded it and brightened the cave. She gasped and took a hurried step back. Then it wasn't there anymore.
"What the buck was that?" First Light worriedly murmured.
Dawn's deep breathing was her only response. It was already really scary down here, they didn't need creepy magic too. She gulped down her fear and took a deep breath. Something her father taught her. Then placed her hoof back in its previous place.
The ring appeared once more. But unlike last time, she didn't remove it, despite her better judgement. Five lines traced away from its outer perimeter and zoomed towards the walls over the stone. Then crawled over their surface and created shapes.
Dawn's speeding heart slowed. Her eyes didn't leave the lines nor what they were creating. What it was made her want to learn magic even more. Dawn gulped and whispered, "...matter."
Sheets and images lined the walls. Pictures, a giant map, bookshelves. A long table bearing notebooks and more. There were even drawings and photographs lining the walls of ponies she's actually seen before. But five of them stuck out the most. Five she's recently met and come to know as her family.
Dawn trained her light on the photos and drawings, and slowly approached with a look of wonder. Mouth open and eyes wide. The five of them created a pentagon with the one pony Dawn couldn't believe she missed at the very top: Her mother. But it was when she was very young. In the state of a Unicorn.
On her lower right was Aunt Cadance and on her lower left was Aunt Celestia. Under her was Aunt Luna. Back on the right, underneath Cadance was Flurry Heart. They were all crossed out with black Xs, connected by doubled arrows that pointed to and from her mother.
"Strange," First Light said. "It seems to be a diagram of mother and our family."
Very strange. Dawn moved her light down to the table at all the notes and sheets. The first one had a title in Old Pseratopian reading...
"'Observation #1,'" Dawn read aloud. "Queen Arcadia has become as strong as I. Her level of magic was not meant to reach this high. Combined with the rest, it is becoming unprecedented.'"
"What does that mean?"
Dawn wasn't sure. But she had a feeling she wouldn't like the answer. However, she had to know why her mother had an X on her face.
Dawn slid over one of the chairs across the floor to take a seat in and continued reading with First Light. This was going to take a while. But they both knew there was info in here that was worth it.
They were never going to hoof over the Zebras. Queen Arcadia knew they weren't. Equestria was never going to hoof over those ponies so they would never do it again. They were going to snuggle them in their own hooves while the Pserateps try to pry those hooves open. And they would willingly put their lives on the line for this.
Queen Arcadia took her brooding down to Safe Haven's exercise room. Where she could stretch and take her anger out on all the weights, benches, poles, and punching bags. Her hooves danced across the mats protecting the floor. She grunted and strained underneath the weights she would lift. She'd be silent with closed eyes while she slowly rotated around with one of her forehooves on the ground, and the rest of her body in the air, practicing her balance. She'd make no noise while she did her yoga to maintain her curves.
But after all of that, her cries of anger would scream she wanted vengeance. Her nonchalant expression stood tall in front of the reflective mirrors on the right wall of the room. To her long ethereal mane draping over her right eye to her taller physique. She would be about as tall as Madun. Not as big, but that was okay. She had all the strength she needed in her head. Madun taught her that.
She wiped her face matted with sweat and whispered, "I promise... They will pay, my children. And nothing will stand in my way."