//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Hazy Demeanor // Story: The Spirit Crusaders // by SnivyGAbsol //------------------------------// My stance remains firm in spite of this uneasy dreadful feeling. I gaze upon the general spot on the tree, roughly where his height may reach on the other side of it. I take a moment to think on what I should do next. This feeling continues to grow and but I still maintain my composure. "Please... just go... I do not wish to cause harm to you..." utters the mysterious voice. "I already said that I'm not leaving until I know who you are. You deciding not to come out just gives me more reason to stay. So you come out here yourself, otherwise, I'm coming over there to get a good look at you," I reply. There's a brief moment of silence. I look down at my hooves then back up at the tree. I raise up my right hoof and place it forward a step. Right then, a purple and black beam fires out from behind the tree and flies right towards my right hoof. I quickly jerk my hoof back to avoid it and give a shocked gasp as my body tenses. The spot were my hoof was set now has a charred burn mark upon it. My eyes widen at the sight of the burnt grass but then my eyes turn to glare back at the tree. "That was a warning shot. The next one won't be." "Seriously?!" I shout. "Please, just be on your way already. I won't allow you to take another step," I continue to glare at the tree and question to myself how he is able to see me from his position. I begin to examine the tree more carefully from my position. I squint my eyes to focus upon the tree in an effort to see something that may give me a clue. In that moment, I notice a glimmer pear out from beside the tree. My eyes quickly fixate upon the glimmer before it slowly fades. I focus more on where the faint shine appeared from and I notice a dim glow of purple on what looks like some sort gemstone. I squint my eyes a tad more to examine the gemstone and soon enough I notice the faint reflection of a muzzle belonging to a stallion. My eyes widen at the sight for a brief moment then my gaze quickly returns to a glare. "So that's how you're able to see me," I quietly say to myself. The voice lets out a gentle sigh. There is a moment of silence before the stallion speaks. "You obviously have no intentions of leaving me be. Very well, so be it. Just know one thing before you try anything" I stand firm, awaiting his words before I begin to make my move. "You will not be able to catch me..." Right then, the reflection of the stallion fades and the gemstone flees behind the tree. My eyes quickly dart at the spot to notice this as he proceeds to make is escape. I go to take my first step to begin tailing him but I hear a sudden rustling from a bush to my left. I turn my attention to the bush and to my surprise, the black bunny from earlier jumps out of it and makes a dash right towards me. Before I could react, the bunny pounces at me and latches directly onto my face and obscures my vision. "Gah-Mmmmhhhph!" I let out as I reach up to grab hold of the critter. "Grr! Get off me!" I yell out as I try to pry this clinging creature off my face. This bunny continues to cling with a tight hold. I stagger about as It does but then I steady myself and lift up the bunny off my face and I throw it away from me. The bunny lands a few yards away from me without any loss of balance once it reaches the ground. I glare at the bunny while taking a moment to regain my composure. The bunny proceeds to stand on its hind paws and stare at me while twitching its nose. "Ergh, What kind of a bunny rabbit are you?!" I shout over to the critter. The bunny then proceeds to give me a wide creepy, malicious grin. My expression chances from anger to stunned as I witness the wide grin that swept across its fuzzy face. The bunny turns and quickly hops away into the forest. My eyes follow it until it is out of sight. "Did... Did that bunny just.. grin at me?" I say to myself. I gaze down at the grass, puzzled by what has happened. I look off into the woods where the stallion may have ran off too. "That guy is seriously strange.. and no doubt that bunny rabbit is his doing. But it doesn't matter now. I need to follow him!" I turn towards the direction he went and hastily proceed to follow. I jump past the tree and give a quick glance around to find him. I proceed straight away from the tree and run deeper into the forest to pick up on his trails. "He can't get very far... Just need to find where he's headed," I say as I gaze down to find any hoof prints in the grass. I spot a trail of hoof prints leading in the direction I'm running towards. "Good, this is the right way" I run and run, catching up to him as I begin to hear the faint sounds of another pair of hooves hastily trotting through the woods. As the sounds inch closer with every step I take, my eyes gaze forward now to keep a look out for the stallion. I catch a glimpse of a dark figure ahead of me rounding a tree. "Gotcha!" I utter to myself. Shortly after, I jump a head and land in front of the tree he rounded. My eyes quickly dart around the spot but he's not here. "What?!" I stand confused, gazing about to try to find him. The gemstone belonging to the stallion pears out from the leaves from up top the tree. The tip of the gemstone aims down at me as I glance up to see it glowing a bright purple. I tense as it fires that same black lightening magic. I teleport out of the way before impact, placing myself a few feet further away from the tree. The magical blast hits the ground and causes the grass to be charred and covered in black, hazy substance. I grit my teeth and grunt whilst glaring up at the tree just in time to notice a dark blur jolt out of its leaves and enter another tree. My eyes follow him as he seems to proceeds to hastily jump from tree to tree. "Hey! Get back here already!" I shout towards him. "Stay away I said!" The stallion shouts back from the distance. "I already said I do not wish to harm you so why are you persisting?" "You have something to hide and I gotta know what it is! Now!" "Then continue at your leisure! Just know that you've been warned!" He continues further until he is out of sight once more. I sprint towards his direction, nearing another open spacing within the forest. I stop once I reach the spot and shift my eyes around to find him. "Ugh, this is getting annoying," I say as my horn begins to glow, using it to locate him. As I try to find him using my magic, I begin to hear growls from within the shrubs ahead of me. "Huh?" Three timberwolves slowly creep out from the darkness of the forest, angrily snarling at me. "Oh great.... Wait a second.." I gaze at their eyes to find something off. Their eyes are not giving off their normal green glow. Their eye are shining the same bright purple as that bunny and upon further examination, parts of their bodies have black, hazy markings. "Oh c'mon" The timberwolves inch closer with growing intent on attacking. My attention turns away from them as I hear the sounds of what seems to be squeaky laughter. My eyes dart up to a nearby tree branch to find the bunny sitting on it whilst laughing at my with a wide ear to ear, malicious smile. "Why you little..!" The bunny proceeds to raise its left paw and give a gentle 'goodbye' wave. Right after it waves, it hops of its branch and falls out of sight, disappearing once more into the forest. As soon as it is gone, my eyes turn back to the nearing timberwolves. They ready themselves to pounce at me by lowering there stances. I steady my own stance in preparation to retaliate, but before I can fully ready myself, my horn picks up the stallion's general location. The feeling within my horn begins to fade fast though. "Ugh, I don't have time for this!" I shout. The timberwolves roar loudly at me before they all pounce at me in unison. My wings swiftly unfold and I perform a hard flap towards the ground and launch myself towards the sky. I successfully avoid their pounce and all of the timberwolves collide with one another. I fly up past the trees and gaze down at them all from my height. They appear stunned from the collision before regaining their composure and their gaze sharply shifts up towards me. They stand there, ferociously growling. I hover in the air for a brief moment to stare at them, questioning their feral behavior. The strange markings as well as the haze emitting from them being abnormal enough, but their behavior is quite more aggressive. Their eyes begin to change back to normal and the hazy markings slowly fade away. The timberwolves' behavior changes. They turn their heads to each other and give looks of visible confusion as if they are unaware of how they got there. Puzzled by this, I watch for a moment longer, only to find them causally walking off like nothing happened. "He's controlling them... but I haven't seen any sort of puppeteer magic like this before." I turn my head to gaze towards the east section of the forest. I squint my eyes to focus upon the forest from above in search for any movement. I spot a dark figure trotting through a small open field and appears to be making their way towards an entrance to a cave. "Gotcha now!" The figure enters the cave. My horn glows brighter and I teleport straight to the entrance of the cave. I stare puzzled into the cave as I do not recall any caves within the Everfree Forest. I glance over my shoulder back into the depths of the woods for a brief moment. I watch carefully to make sure that bunny is not around this time as to not allow it to sneak up on me while I enter. I turn my head back towards the entrance and examine it from my position, though there is not much to see what with the pathway trailing into darkness. "Hmm, I hope this is the only way outta this cave. I've gone pretty far to catch this guy and I don't plan on stopping here," I rush forward into the dark cave. As I rush in I keep a careful eye for any movement. I trot deeper and deeper into the cave it only grows darker to the point where I have to squint to see anything. The only illumination within the cave is the outside light shining in. I slow down my pace and proceed more carefully, making sure he doesn't slip past me. I reach a point where there's not much to see and I'm left standing in an open, spacious section of the cave that seems to have a path in front of me that turns a corner. I gaze around my current area to find any sort of hiding spots he may be hiding behind, thankfully to no avail. I look down the path ahead and tread towards it carefully. I peak around the corner to gaze down the path. I see within the distance faint shimmering lights. I round the corner and carefully tread closer towards the light I see ahead. "If this is an oncoming train, I swear," I jokingly say to myself before giving a brief chuckle. I enter a much larger, more spacious section of the cave. This section seems different, it has all sorts of strange reflective rocks all around, almost like crystals of some sort. Some of the rock's reflective parts blend with the walls while others protrude. These rocks appear to be the cause of the shimmering light as they reflect a light source that dimly Illuminate the cave. Though, I'm unable to tell where the light source is coming from. Perhaps the source of light is reflection all the way from a deeper section of the cave and the light has bounced from rock to rock all the way to this room. It's quite the pretty sight to behold as I gaze about the dark purplish blue tone of the dimly lit cave accompanied with the calming sounds of a deep hum along with faint water droplets hitting the ground from a distance. I would be inclined to take this moment to soak in the beauty and relax but I divert my attention back to locating the stranger. I gaze about to find all the potential places to hide, finding many. This makes it harder to guess where he may be hiding but from what I can tell, this cave most likely does not have another entry point that he may use to make his escape. If there is, then perhaps he doesn't know of it. "There's no where to run! The only way out of this cave is through me!" My voice echos as I shout. "How can you be so sure of yourself?" The sound of his voice bounces all around the room in a similar echo, though it makes it difficult to tell where the voice originated from. Me, on the other hoof, It's easy to pinpoint me via voice as I stand directly in the center of this spacious room. I smirk slightly at his reply. "Because you responded to me. Had you known there was another way out of this cave you wouldn't have stuck around, now would you?" There's a moment of brief silence. No sounds emit from either of us, only the ambiance of the cave. "Ahh, what's wrong? Did I get your tongue? You don't wanna speak all of the sudden" "Leave this place!" He shouts. "Go now before I become truly violent with you" I let out a gentle sigh. "Look, I don't wanna fight you. This has gone on quite enough already, don't you think? You already interrupted my training session so I can't just let this go now. Now I'm really wanting to get back home, but not before I know who you are and find out about this magic of yours" "What part of 'no' don't you understand?" "I'm sure you have your reasons for why you won't allow me to see you, but I'm asking you... Please, may I be allowed to see you and learn about you and your magic? I'm sure I can look past what ever the reason is why you won't come out" "Why do you care so much about me, my magic, and what I can do with it? You'll only find that I'm far less interesting than I appear to be," He says with a softer, more sincere tone. "Because everypony has something interesting about them and I'm very prone to finding out what that may be. You could say... It's more of a habit. I'd say that's just me being me," I reply with a more gentler tone as well. "Tch.." "And I know that what you just said is a lie. I'm sure there's a lot of interesting stuff about you" "How could one such as yourself presume to know that if you don't even know who I am?" "That's why I'm here! To get to know you! So if you could just come on out an-" "Silence!" He shouts, his voice echoing throughout the cave system. I go quiet for a moment after his shout and I begin to feel the looming sense of dread once more. I take a moment to actually consider leaving now but I've gone too far to give up here. The sudden sound of the emission of magic waves out throughout the room and in a swift moment, a beam of dark magic shoots out from within the darkness of the cave. It flies directly towards me and I quickly jerk my body aside just in time for it to miss me. "Woah!" The blast impacts a nearby wall behind me, causing it to break apart into pieces. I glance back to look at the damage, looking quite shocked at the force it had. I quickly face forward and shift my eyes around to try to find where it came from. I wasn't able to tell where from the first shot since it was too fast, but now I know he's on the offense against me. I focus on the darkness of the cave, awaiting for him to fire once more. In that moment I hear the sound of magic being emitting once again coming from the similar spot within the darkness. I ready myself to dodge or maybe counter it, but then I hear the sound shift over suddenly to my right and shoot out from the darkness. I quickly dive forward and land on my stomach, letting the blast fly over my head. It impacts another solid wall beside me, breaking a wall to my left. I lift up my head and look both ways before standing back up again. I look up and about for any place where the magic may have came from. "Hey! Take it easy!" "I will not heed your demands," He then fires a few more blast from within the darkness, each one flying at me from different angles in front of me. I then proceed to jump and shift about to avoid the blast, similarly to how I avoid Cadance's crystal. As each blast impacts the ground and walls, smoke from the blast picks up and starts to cloud the room. With each passing blast impacting the cave's walls and ground, more and more dust and smoke pick up, making it harder to see. One particular blast shoots out from a high point from within the darkness. I somersault away from the blast and it impacts the ground, creating a crater. I land back in the center of the room and I try to take a breath. I start coughing as I breathe in some of the smoke and dust. I put a hoof near my muzzle to cover my coughing. "Not how im-..magined I'd be spending my day today" "If you're dissatisfied with this then feel free to exit" "You think a little dust is going to slow me down?" "No" He fires another beam somewhere within the cave. There is a faint sound of impact, but this sound is different. It sounded like something ricocheting off of a smooth surface. I see the blast shoot out of the darkness once more but it's trajectory flies no where near me. It flies right at one of the reflective rocks and bounces off of it, changing it's course towards me. I duck to avoid it and it flies over my head and impacts another reflective rock to my right. The magic bounces off again and flies up towards near the ceiling of the room and hits a pillar made of the crystalline like rocks. The magic bounces off the pillar and makes another beeline right for me. I'm caught off guard by this and the magic impacts me directly onto my chest, practically exploding into a bright purple wave of static. "Uuuaaagghhh!" I cry out as the forceful impact from the blast sends me into a bit of a daze. "But that might.." I wince at the pain of the attack but it shortly begins to subside. I look down at my chest after the blast to check myself. I quickly notice a small patch of the same black substance from before now bared upon my chest. The black substance begins to grow and spread along my chest and even start emitting its haze. As this happens, I start to gain fatigue along with a shortness of breath. It's clear that this substance is the cause for my sudden fatigue as I try to take deeper breaths but I am unable to. I use my hooves to try to scrape off the substance but it latches on tight, like when gum gets stuck in your mane. "W--W--What did you... do?" I say in an exhausted tone. "Feeling tired? We've only just begun" "You... Urgh... This won't stop me" "Oh? Then how about a little more?" With that, he fires another beam onto a reflective rock and his magical blast begins to bounce all around from rock to rock. I try in my best efforts to shift and jerk myself aside to avoid them as they get close, my movements seem to be slowed while covered in this stuff. The substance spreads fully on my chest and I take a moment to stand still to catch my breath. I try to focus on dodging this oncoming magic before focusing on removing the substance. The magic reaches the same pillar again and reflects off of it again and flies towards me once more. I'm ready for this one however. I shift aside to avoid it and it barely misses me. I take a moment to smirk after I dodge it. I hear the sound of the magic hitting another smooth surface to which then my smirk quickly fades. I glance back to see the magic flying towards me. I have no time to dodge however. The blast nails me right on my back, causing me to stagger forward and almost fall over. "Nrgh! Grrrgh.." The black substance forms on my back from the magical impact and starts to spread and grow along it. I begin to feel twice as fatigued as before now as this substance consumes me. I try to open my wings to maybe use them for easier momentum but the substance quickly covers them and won't allow me to open them. I kneel down and try to breathe, having taking small breaths. I quickly try to dart my eyes around to try to locate the being. My shortness of breath makes it hard for me to focus on locating him. I'm left here kneeling and out of breath, looking down at the ground trying to support myself to stand back up. "Look at you... you wanted to learn about my magic. Well, now you get to experience it first hoof. Enjoy it. Hope I've taught you a thing or two" The stallions voice says menacingly. There is a moment of quiet where all that is heard is my heavy breathing. I pant here for a few moments longer before I start to regain control of my composure. I start to breathe more calmly as I put my hoof to my chest. I take a deep breath inward and I exhale as I extend my hoof outward, letting out all my worries using my mother's signature breathing technique. I begin to stand up slowly and my horn begins to shine yellow. The light from my horn glows brighter as I gather up my magic. From where the stallion is, he cannot believe his eyes. "What? How are you even able to stand?" I say nothing as I continue to gather my magic. My horn suddenly shines even brighter to illuminate the entire room. I concentrate my power into my chest and form my yellow barrier from within me. The shield expands outward and begins pushing the substance off my body until it is fully ripped away from me. I now stand within my yellow shield and all the substance now sticks to my shield. I take a moment to smirk and stretch my wings for a moment before folding them again. I then emit a pulse by breaking away my own shield. The pulse waves throughout the room and completely eradicates the substance. My horn's light dims down now as I stand firmly and gaze up into the darkness. "What is this? How could ones magic be so capable of countering mine?" He asks. "Thanks for the lesson on teaching me about what your magic does. Though I can honestly say... I'm not all that impressed" "What?" "I hardly learned anything other than it makes me feel a little winded. But it seems that's really all there is too it. That and it's.. actually pretty weak" "You hold your tongue. M-My magic is not weak!" "Prove it then... hit me with everything you've got and I'll retort with a fraction of what I've got. Sound good?" "You insolent little.." He barks. "Oh and by the way? I know where you're hiding," I say as I glare up at the reflective pillar that appears to be on a higher ground. It's large enough for somepony to hide behind and there are no other decent hiding places near my ground level. Especially when most of those magical blast came from higher up. The stallion's eyes widen at the sound of my words. He wonders if I'm bluffing or not. "Hrgh!" He grunts out, seeming quite agitated. "Your move, buddy!" My horn begins to light up yellow once more. The stallion grits his teeth and suddenly pears around the corner of the pillar. He whips around what appears to be a staff and aims it directly at me from his elevated position. It glows a bright purple and even sparks up as it seems to be charging a very powerful blast. I gaze at the increasingly bright staff charging up as it illuminates the cave with its glow. The staff emits a rising hum that grows louder as it charges. I stand firmly in my place and await for the right moment to make my move. He unleashes the blast directly towards me and right as it gets close I jump backwards. The magical beam impacts the ground and lets out a massive kinetic explosion, creating a massive cloud of dust and smoke. There is a flash within the smoke and everything slowly grows quiet. The stallion gazes upon the spot where his blast made contact, awaiting for the smoke to clear. He stares intently without even blinking. Maintaining his focus, his eyes dart all around the spot, waiting for the slightest bit of movement within the smog. He keeps his staff held firmly as he completely fixates his aim upon the fading cloud of smoke. The cloud clears more and more, the stallion grits his teeth and the gemstone fitted a top the staff glows brightly, ready to unleash its magic. As the cloud fades, I am no where to be seen. He blinks and lowers his staff, as well as parting his teeth away from each other. Puzzled by my disappearance he gazes around the cave in front of him in search for my whereabouts. "Where did she go?" He carefully scans the cave for my presence but to no avail. "She couldn't have gone far... and there's no way she could have gotten past me," All is quiet, all that is heard is the sound of the deep humming of the cave, the occasional drips of water from the distance, silence. He silently holds his breath and listens more carefully. All he hears is the quiet sounds of the cave. He hears the sounds of pebbles rolling and sliding across the ground behind him. He gasps, his eyes widen, and he sharply tries to turn around only for my tightened hoof to strike him across his left cheek. He falls to his side and drops his staff in front of me to which then I firmly step on it with my left foreleg as to not allow him to obtain it again. He lies upon the ground with a hoof gently held on his cheek, gritting his teeth from the pain. I stand firmly with my hoof still tightened, glaring down at him with a stern look upon my face. "You see... I tried playing nice... I gave you plenty of chances to play nice as well... but it's clear that that's not going to work. I only wanted to get to know the pony who gave me a helping hoof. But now, all I wanna do is punch you as payback for attacking me. I can honestly say that I'm quite peeved by your rude behavior and now... you're gonna pay!" I real my hoof back to ready myself to deliver another punch. I throw the punch down towards him. "WAIT!" He shouts while raising his hooves to shield himself. I stop the motion of my hoof a few inches away from his. "Stop! . . . I yield..." He turns his head away and closes his eyes. The stallion pants to catch his breath, seeming winded from my strike. My expression of sternness turns to visible confusion. "What? Already? You better not be trying to trick me. It will not work, I guarantee it." "I'm not. Please understand. I do not wish to proceed this any longer than it already has." I squint my eyes at his current demeanor, finding it rather strange. I take a moment to examine the appearance of this strange pony. Their coat appears to be a dark purple and their eye color seems to be similar of the same bright purple glow their gemstone emits. Their mane and tail is very dark and seems to be giving of the appearance of a hazy cloud, softly swaying in a similar manor a smoke cloud would. To compare the motions of his mane and tail, it's similar to how Celestia's, Luna's, and Twilight's mane and tail move on their own. Nearing the ends of his flowing mane and tail, it gives off the view of how it would look like to be staring into a smokey fog with a color blend of dark purple and grayish blue. Upon further examination I notice that the being before me wears a strange set of armor and hoof shoes. The color of these are a light black and upon the center of his chest plate lies a bright purple gemstone that glows and shines within the dark. The hoof shoes he wears also have similar gemstones like the one on his chest plate. All of these gemstones bare a similar ovular shape, kind of like the shape of an egg. I admire the gemstones as they are quite fascinatingly pretty. I look down at the staff that I am pinning to the ground and begin to take note of the detail of the gemstone that sits upon the top. Its shape is not like the other gemstones on his armor but instead the shape resembles that of a diamond. After taking careful analysis of this pony before me, I decide to play along with his mannerism. "Alright, fine. If you say you give in then I won't fight you anymore. I just wanted to thank you up close for the helping hoof you gave me as well as learn about this strange magic of yours. It didn't have to turn so rash you know." I lower my hoof and set it back down on the ground. He opens his eyes and looks up at my face, taking notices of my appearance. He lowers his hooves and shifts his eyes up at my horn. Shortly after, he leans aside to look a bit past me and spots my wings. His eyes broadened at the sight of my wings. He looks back into my eyes. "Wait... Y-..You're... Princess Flurry Heart, correct?" "Yeah, that's me" "I-I'm so sorry! I-I had no idea! P-Please... forgive me. Had I known you were a princess I wouldn't have even dreamed of attacking you. My deepest of apologies, Princess" From the ground he lies on, he proceeds to shift himself into a bowing position before me. I lean my head back a tad in response to this, showing visible confusion even further. I take a moment to consider his current behavior to be possibly genuine, but I still remain a bit weary. "Hmm," I reach my hoof out at him, offering to help him off the ground. "I suppose it's alright. Here, let me give you a hoof,". He takes a moment to stare at my hoof and slowly raises his own to reach for it. He hesitates for a moment as if he is unsure if he should take it. There is a brief moment of silence as he pauses his motions. "Oh c'mon, go ahead, take it. I'm not gonna hurt you anymore, so long as you don't try to hurt me" He gazes up at my eyes for a moment. I return his gaze along with a reassuring smile. He then takes my hoof and I carefully help him to his hooves. I set my hoof down and take a step back, letting my firm hold on his staff go as I do. He uses his horn, which glows a bright purple, to pick up the staff. He then grasps it in the middle upon what seems to be a soft foam like grip to what I can only assume helps with keeping a tight hold onto it. I carefully watch him as he checks his staff. There is a sound of quiet scurrying all of the sudden that appears to inch closer swiftly. The stallion takes notice of the sound first before I do and looks past me towards the direction it is coming from. "Huh?" The stallion quietly says. The dark bunny swiftly rushes out from the darkness and makes a beeline straight for me from behind. "Lariat! No!" Shouts the stallion as he reaches out a hoof at the critter. The bunny lunges at me with its paws out, attempting to latch onto me once more as a form of attack. Its teeth bared whilst letting out a feral snarl. My horn glows bright yellow and my magic entraps the creature within a magical field, suspending it in mid-air before it could make successful contact with me. It viciously swipes its paws at me and continues to snarl like a wild animal when it's cornered. My expression shows annoyance at the stallion for the actions the bunny tried to commit. "Please, don't hurt him, I beg you, Princess! He was just trying to protect me!" He begs. The bunny continues to make snarling sounds at me whilst swiping at me along with an angry glare. I turn my head slightly to return the gaze to the bunny. I deliver a frightening leer that pierces through the bunny's glare and its behavior quickly turns from feral-like to frightened. The critter curls up and even starts to shake, realizing the trapped and defenseless position it is in. Lastly, its glowing gemstone like eyes dim a bit down, revealing that the creature indeed does have pupils. Their pupils are round and black while the sclera are still the same purple hue as before. "Hmph," I turn my head back at the stallion in front of me. "Please, let me have him back. He won't try anything else to harm you... W-Won't you, Lariat?" He looks at the bunny. The bunny gives a nervous smile, nodding, and lets out a little squeaks the make it sound like it's saying 'Uh-huh uh-huh!'. "See? He won't do it again! I promise!" He also gives a nervous smile. I say nothing an just simply levitate the bunny closer to the stallion to allow him to take hold of the critter before letting go of my magical hold on it. He clings to the bunny closely and begins petting it gently while the bunny returns the care with a soft hug. He lets out a gentle sigh of relief as he pets the bunny, seeming to relax now. I watch him as he clings to the bunny, taking note that it obviously means a great deal to him. There is a moment of silence as I allow him to take his time to coddle his supposed pet. "Haaahhhh, thank you, Princess," He calmly says, shifting his gaze up at me. "It's nothing," I playfully swipe my hoof in the air at him. "It's not nothing, it means a lot to me" "I see..." I turn my gaze to watch the bunny. It seems to be happily smiling while hugging the stallion. Its eyes are closed to enjoy the moment more. It opens its eyes and looks at me while I return the gaze. It gets frightened again and tightens his hug on the stallion. I start to feel a bit sorry for frightening the creature, despite the actions it has caused. I let out a subtle exhale. "You mentioned your... friend there's name is... 'Lariat' ... right?" I inquire. "Yes, Indeed that is his name," He looks at the bunny, softly rubbing his hoof on his head. "Hmm, pretty interesting name for the little fella. He's actually pretty cute" I smile. "Yes, he... he is" The stallion gives a brief smile at the bunny. "While we're on the topic of names and seeing as you already know mine. You got a name of your own?" He turns his eyes up at me while I watch his, awaiting for his response. He looks at his bunny friend for a moment then down at the ground. There is a moment of silence as he sits there thinking. "Well go on, you can tell me, if for some reason your name is apart of the reason why you didn't want to show yourself, you don't need to worry about that now. Your secret will be safe with me," I smile reassuringly. He looks up at me to take note of my smile. He gently opens his maw to speak. "My name is Void Dusk" "Void Dusk?" "Yes, Indeed" "Hmm, That's a very fitting name" "Th-Thank you, Princess" "You can call me Flurry if you want. No need to be so formal" "S-Sorry. I wish to show you my respect. Especially for my actions earlier. That wasn't like me at all" "Ah, don't sweat it. It's over now. All is fine. I already forgave you" "I-If you... say so, F--... Flurry Heart" Void Dusk stands up more properly now and takes a moment to set his bunny friend, Lariat, on his back. I carefully watch him while he does this and as I do I take full notice of what appears to be wings upon his back. My eyes shoot wide open and my expression is filled with pure shock. Even my jaw drops at the sight. "Wait! Are you... an Alicorn?!" I say out loud. "What? Oh... oh no no, I can assure you I am no Alicorn. You see.." he unfolds his wings and flutters them twice. "These technically aren't real wings. But I can see why you'd think I'm an Alicorn. This is... honestly part of the reason why I did not wish for you to see me," The ends of his wings appear to be made of a hazy mist of darkness that trail down and fade into the same color of his coat. The appearance of the darkness seem as if you were to try to put your hoof on it, it would phase right through. Within the darkness, faint glimmering sparkles can be seen, as if you were gazing into the night sky. "Woah" I say in awe. "Yes, it's quite interesting" "Guess I was right, huh?" "What do you mean?" "There is something interesting about you," I smirk. "Oh, I... guess you were right about that" "So, how are you able to have wings and a horn?" I inquire. "With this," His horn glows, using his magic to highlight the strange ring around it. He even points to it with his staff. "That ring around your horn?" "Indeed, it's some sort of relic that imbues me with these dark, mystical powers that I... had used against you. Again, sorry" "Heh, I already told you, it's fine. Mind telling me more about this magic? Like I said, your magic is interesting and I wanna learn more about it" "Hmmm... to show that I was telling the truth about me not being an Alicorn," He proceeds to magically take off his horn ring. As it slides off, his wings begin to fade away into a smokey mist. His mane and tail no longer appear wavy and smokey like, but rather pure black and straight. His eyes turn from bright purple to black. Along side with the fading of his wings, his staff disappears entirely in a puff of smokey haze. "W-Where'd your staff go?" I ask. "It too is apart of this ring's strange magic. Once I take it off, the staff fades as well," He holds the ring out in front, between us, for me to get a closer view of it. "Do you know where it goes?" "Beats me..." "Hmm, and what about the matching armor you've got?" "As for the attire you see me wearing currently, They are mere set pieces that are to be worn along side with this ring" "Huh" I lean closer to the ring and admire it. It has a small, yet similar gemstone like the others embedded within it. He slowly pulls it back and begins to slide it back onto his horn. "So, how did you get such a cool looking relic?" Void seems hesitant to answer. "I...." His mane and tail begins to return to it's flowing, smokey state and his wings slowly begin to reform upon his back through the wing holes of his armor. His eye color also returns to its bright purple state. Even his staff returns after forming from dark haze and he firmly holds it once more. By the looks of how different his body changes when he wears the ring, It's safe to say this relic has some great effects to him. Though, this isn't anything I've seen or heard of before. "I.... let's just say I... acquired it... a long time ago. I do not wish to say anything more. I'm sorry" He looks down at the ground and perks his ears down, showing visible trepidation. I take note of his expression and give a deep sigh. "A bit worried about something that makes you not so inclined to tell me?" "A little... Well... Actually, quite very" "Well, how's about you tell me the real reason why you wanted to hide from me?" "Hmm well part of it is because of my magic. It's not the type of magic I'm really open to sharing. It's the type of magic that could frighten the average pony" "I see" "I'd much rather keep my magic hidden rather than to show it. Otherwise, I'd most likely draw unwanted attention to myself. Plus, my... mother wouldn't like that very much," He lowers his head and his ears perk down again, showing visible embarrassment. "Your mom?" I ask while raising an eyebrow. "Yes, m-my... mother does not really want me to draw too much attention to either of us, let alone, any at all. Or at least... the wrong kind of attention" "Hmmm" In my mind, I question his behavior even more. He seemed fearless when fighting against me, but now he's more worried about going against his mother's requests. I give a brief chuckle at this thought. "W-What's so funny?" He questions. "Heheh, I just find it a bit funny how we have that in common," I smile. "Have what in common?" "We both listen to are mothers. We take deep consideration in their words and we enjoy following along to their guidance. Am I in the bucking ball park here?" "Well... I... y-yes. That's exactly how I feel. You are indeed correct" He gives a brief smile, finding comfort in that similarity we share. "Glad to hear it. There's no need to feel embarrassed about it. I always listen to my mom and she's always caring for me. There's nothing wrong with loving your family" "You're absolutely right about that" "So, is there anything else that's part of the reason as to why you didn't want to show yourself?" "Well, there's also the notion that I'm not exactly the typical normal looking pony you'd find wondering along the streets of the major landmarks. Especially with my wings" "That's what you're worried about? Your appearance? That's why you didn't want me seeing you? Because of how you look?" "No, it's not like that it's just... it probably wouldn't be for the best if I were to walk among others when I will most definitely get pegged as an Alicorn. I mean you thought I was one just moments ago, correct?" "Mmm, you've got a point there" "Ponies and creatures alike would give me the attention that I do not deserve. I live a very quiet life and for the time being I would prefer it to stay that way" "Ahh, I understand" "Are you sure you do?" "What's that suppose to mean?" I raise an eyebrow. "I-I only ask that respectfully of course, Prince-- uh Flurry. I mean, life for you as royalty must not be so quiet, right?" "Well... Honestly? Life as royalty has it's own little definition of a 'quiet life', but it does hold similarities to what you're describing about your own life" "How so?" "Well, I don't really do much princess duties. There are the occasional princess meetings but other than that I usually have lots of free time to do my own thing. Nothing really else happens much that's too exciting so I'd say I live a pretty quiet life too" "Is that so?" "Yup! It's true" "Sounds fascinating" A certain thought crosses my mind and I begin stroking my chin as I take a moment to think. The thought of my mother's words on going out and making friends float around in my mind and I feel this may already be the perfect moment. "So, what's a princess like yourself doing out here in the Everfree Forest? You mentioned that our encounter had interrupted your 'training session'. Were you doing some form of magic training out there? If so, why way out here and not in the empire?" He asks. "Well, I was doing a form of magic training, yes and technically I wasn't performing my training exercise here, I was at The Crystal Empire" "What? I-If you were training at the empire then... how are you way out here?" I give a brief, confident smile. "Throughout my life I've been really good with magic, Nowadays I spend most of my time honing on my skills. Oh! Which reminds me, I need to get back home. I have folks waiting for me and this whole 'us meeting' thing kinda stopped me from getting back to them. They're probably worried" "Ah, I see. Well, if that is all then don't let me keep you here any longer than I already have" He looks down to gazes at his staff, brushing it off gently, yet awkwardly. I hold out a hoof to him, offering him to take it. "Would you like to come with?" I ask. He looks back up at me with a puzzled stare. "What? M-Me? Come with you to the empire?" "Yeah, why not? It's the least I can do after punching you in the face" I awkwardly smile. "I... I don't know. The empire is so far and I must be heading back to my own home pretty soon and... " "Oh, nonsense! No place is too far for me. Watch!" I gently reach for his hoof and take it. "Wait? What do you--" In an instant, I teleport, Void, Lariat, and myself to the empire, placing us all in the middle of one of the open halls within the empire. Void and Lariat blink a few times before shifting their gaze around quickly to get a look at their surroundings, finding that they are now indeed within The Crystal Empire. "--mean?" Finishing his sentence. "Here we are! The Crystal Empire" I let go of his hoof and smile at him. "Wh--What? H--How are we already at the empire?!" He questions. "I'm really good at teleporting" I smile confidently at him. "But... t-that was so instant. How is that possible?" "Like I said; Really good at teleporting. It's always been one of my greatest skills" "Wow," He gazes around in awe at the beautiful crystalline walls as they shine magnificently. The ground so cleanly kept, you're able to see your own reflection within it. Pillars of beautifully carved crystal line the walls, It's all a sight for sore eyes. "This place is... More amazing that I had anticipated. And we got here... just like that..." "Mhmm" I nod. "And you wanted to learn about my magic? Your teleportation alone seems far more interesting than my magic" "Heh, well I appreciate that" I rub the back of my head awkwardly, yet happily. "This is... all very incredible" He continues to admire his surroundings. "Flurry Heart!" Shouts a distant male voice from down the hall behind me. I tense for a moment and my eyes broaden. I turn around to find my mom and dad approaching me. Void steps behind me to sort of hide himself from their sights. "There you are! We've been looking for you! Where'd you disappear off to?" Says Shining Armor. "We felt something was wrong when you didn't come back two seconds after you left," Cadance chimes in. "I'm sorry, mom and dad, I . . . got caught up with something" "Caught up with something? How could you possibly get caught up with something while getting your stopwatch?" "And... who's that behind you?" Shinning inquires. Void turns and lowers his head a bit, feeling nervous about suddenly meeting royalty. I look back at him and then back at my parents. "He's... somepony I met in the Everfree and I sorta... brought him here," I step aside to allow them to see him. They both gaze at the strange looking pony with puzzled gazes. Void shyly looks up at the two and slowly shifts himself into a bowing position. "It's.. an honor to be here and to... m-meet you, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza" "Heh, you may rise, and please, call me Cadance," Cadance says with a smile while gesturing him to stand back up. "What? I don't get a bow?" Cadance quietly snaps to Shinning Armor. "Shinning!" "What? I'm just sayin'" "I-I could if you wish. M-My apologies for not," Void respectfully asks. "Dah, you're fine, kid. I'm just messing with you" Cadance looks towards me now. "So, who is this pony anyway?" "His name is Void Dusk" "Void Dusk?" "That's a strange name" "Dad, be nice" "Why did you bring him here? Not to be rude to our... unexpected guest... but you can't just bring strangers into the empire whenever you please," Cadance asks. "I know, mom, it's just... well, I went to go get my stopwatch and I was gonna return right away... but then I got the idea of doing one more quick time trial for my teleportation magic. Once I poofed over to the Everfree, I felt a strange source of magic coming from this guy. So I kinda... tracked him down and well... yeah" "I see..." "Yeah. Sorry I took so long, but his magic seems pretty neat and I wanted to learn about it," They take a moment to examine Void. They notice Void's wings and their eyes broaden. "Are those... Wings?!" Questions Cadance. "Uhh! Before you say anything else! No, he's not an Alicorn. He just has magic that allows him to have these hazy looking wings" "It's true, The ring around my horn allows me to have these wings. If I take it off then these wings fade away," Void follows up. "Woah, that's a neat trick" Says Shinning. "I've never seen nor heard of an object that can grant wings" Cadance adds on. "If it's okay with you mom and dad, could you keep this between us? I don't think Void here would like us blabbing to everypony about his magic" "Of course sweetie, If he wishes to keep it under wraps for whatever reason he may have then we will" "No need to worry, indeed. But I don't understand why you wouldn't want to show others this neat little power of yours. I mean, I'd like me a pair of wings to fly around with... Even though I'm not the best when it comes to heights," Shinning inputs. "Right now I'd... rather not say... M.. My deepest apologies, you two" "Oh, it's quite alright! I'm sure you have your reasons" Cadance says while smiling at Void reassuringly. "Hey, what's with that red mark on your face?" Shinning questions. I look at Shinning with a confused look, then I look back at Void's face. I notice a red mark on his cheek where I punch him. He reaches up and tries to hide it. "Oh! Uhhhh... I maaaay have.. punched him in the face," I give a nervous smile and shrug. "Flurry!" Cadance calls out. "I-I'm sorry!" "I-I-It's okay, Mrs. Cadance, I'm quite alright. It's not her fault. I... provoked her into doing so. We got into an altercation because of... my own stubbornness. But we're both fine now it seems," Void chimes in to defend me for some reason. I look at him for a moment, confused. Cadance's eyes squint at us, giving us a disconcerting look. "Alright, if you say so," She says. "Mrs. Cadance?" Shinning questions under his breath. "Do you need an ice pack for that? I can go get you one," Cadance asks politely. "Oh, no it's quite alright. It still stings a bit but I'll manage. I do not wish to be a bother" "Oh, nonsense! It's no bother at all" "I highly appreciate the hospitality, Mrs. Cadance but really, I'll be fine. Honest" "Are you sure..?" Cadance raises an eyebrow. "Indeed I am" Void gives a nervous smile. Cadance looks at him with a look of skepticism. "Hmmm, Alright... If you say so, 'Mr. Dusk'," Cadance gives a subtle smile after saying this. "So is he like... your friend now or somethin'?" Shinning Asks. "Uhh" I look at him for a moment and think 'why not?'. I look back with a smile on my face. "Yeah! He's now a friend of mine!" Void glances at me with a look of surprise but he doesn't say anything about my words. "Really?!" Cadance questions while leaning in, gazing at me with a puzzled and surprised look. "Yeah, see? I made a promise to you, didn't I?" I say with a smug grin. "I know I asked you to go out and make some friends, but I didn't expect it to happen so quickly" "Heh, well, you know me" I shrug with a smile. "Well, good for you, Flurry! I'm proud of you!" Cadance smiles widely. "What's that on your back?" Shinning points towards the bunny rabbit that sits upon Void's back. "Oh, that's my little friend," Void reaches around and carefully picks up Lariat off of his back to bring him around front to show him to them. He gently holds him to his chest and even cradles him. "Ooo! Is that a cute little bunny rabbit I see?" Cadance gleefully asks. Shinning Armor takes a step back. "Yeah, but ... why does it look like that?" "What's wrong with it? It's cute!" Cadance says while approaching the bunny and reaching out a hoof to it. "Hey little fella! How are you?" "Normally, bunny rabbits don't look all dark and scary lookin' and have normal cute eyes, not glowing purple ones" "Oh hush now, Shinning, I'm sure he's harmless!" "Yeah... Totally harmless," I sarcastically chime in as I roll my eyes. "May I hold him?" Cadance asks Void. "Certainly! Just be gentle with him" "Of course, sweetheart!" Cadance carefully lifts Lariat out of Void's hold and lovingly cradles him in her hold. "Sweetheart?" Void questions under his breath. "Heheh, Well aren't you a little cutie! Coochie coochie coo!" Cadance brings her muzzle down to nuzzle the belly of Lariat. Lariat proceeds to make cute little squeaks at Cadance's loving actions. Lariat returns the nuzzles to Cadance's muzzle. They both give momentary giggles at each other's tender care. "Who's a little cutie? You are!" Lariat gives a little purple blush and curls up more cutely in her gentle embrace. "That thing ain't quite normal, hun" "Oh Nonsense! You can't tell me that this isn't cute," Cadance holds out Lariat to Shinning and he takes a step back further. "Hey, get that thing away from me!" He hollers. "Why, are you... Scared?" "Wh-What? Of course not!" He turns his head away from him. "Then, Look at him! Say he's cute!" Cadance holds Lariat closer to Shinning. Shinning's gaze turns back to Lariat. Lariat gets a funny idea and maliciously grins at Shinning. Shinning gets scared from this and steps back. Void and I notice this and we both give a brief giggle. "Woah! Would ya look at the time! I need to get back to guard duty! You all take care now!" Shinning leisurely trots past us and stops next to Void to look at him. "And you be careful with my daughter," He continues trotting down the hall until he exits the hall. I gently face hoof myself at my dads words. Void looks at me with a questioning gaze. Cadance watches and shakes her head at him while giving a smirk. "What am I gonna do with him?" Cadance chuckles. She faces Void now while petting Lariat. "So what's the little fella's name?" She asks. "Lariat" "Hmm, Interesting. Why does he look like this? If you don't mind me asking" "It's a long story. I doubt you have the time" "Well, maybe one of these days you can tell us. I'd be happy to learn more about you" Cadance gently holds out Lariat back to Void. Lariat clings to Cadance's hoof for a moment longer as if he does not want to let go quite yet. Cadance gives a gentle kiss on Lariat's forehead and fully gives him back to Void. Lariat happily squeaks and smiles widely. "Now then, I suppose I'll leave you two to get to know each other more and have fun" "Alright, mom" Cadance begins to walk past us but then grabs my hoof and pulls me closer to where I'm mere inches away from her face. She gazes into my eyes and gives me a serious look. "But not too much fun" She quietly says. My irises dilate small in response to her words. I gently nod in agreement. "Good!" She smiles and trots away. Void and I carefully watch her until she's fully out of sight. We turn back to each other and I give a small exhale. "I'd say that worked out pretty well" I say to Void. "Yes, quite" "Thanks for the save back there. You know, clearing things up with my parents about the whole 'us fighting' thing" "No trouble at all. Now if it's alright with you, I'd like to return home" "Already? You just got here" "Don't get me wrong, it's wonderful to be here but I feel a tad overwhelmed by this all happening all of the sudden. So maybe I could comeback another time when I'm more at ease to be here" "Ah, alright, sounds fair. Sorry for overwhelming you with this" "You're forgiven, Flurry Heart," He gives a genuine smile. "So, where do you live anyway? I can take you home pretty easily" "Manehatten" I blink a few times in confusion. "M-ma... Really? Manehatten?" "Yes, why?" "Nothin' it's just... Manehatten is an easy trip for me but.. I didn't expect somepony like yourself to live in such a big place. I expected you to live in a place more... secluded" "Hmm, I guess that is quite the surprise . . . Hey, you... still wish to learn more about my magic?" "Sure! Why? You feeling up to telling me now?" "I just figured... My mother would probably be able to help in telling you more about it" "Oh? Why's that?" "Well for quite the passing of years, she has studied my magic. I'm sure she has some notes she's willing to show you" "That's a great idea! May I be allowed to visit your home?" "C-Certainly! I'd.. enjoy the company" "Alright, grab on. I'll take you there" "Okay. I live in a---" My horn lights up and I teleport us to the top of the highest building in Manehatten. "Alright so which one's your home?" I casually ask. Void and Lariat blink a few times before looking down at the city from above. They both immediately get frightened. Lariat clings tighter to Void while Void suddenly clings to me tightly. I almost lose my balance from the sudden tight hold. I tense up and regain my stance while turning my eyes to him. "Hey! What are you--" "Why are we so high up?!" He cries out. "Why are you clinging to me so tightly?" "Just get us down from here!" "Well I can't if I don't know where you live! Which building do you live in?" I turn my head about to look at the surrounding buildings. "Couldn't you have at least teleported us to ground level?!" "Look, relax, alright? I'm not gonna let you fall, I've got wings and so do you.. Kinda. So if I were to drop you, WHICH I'M NOT, I'd catch you. Now focus, tell me which building is yours" "Alright alright... uhh..." He starts shifting his eyes and head about to get his bearings. "There! You see that white penthouse? That's where I live," I turn my head to look where he's pointing. "Huh, Fancy! Alright let's go," I teleport us to the terrace of the penthouse. "Here we are, Your home" "Oh, thank goodness" He still clings to me. I smirk down at him. "So you can stop hugging me now," He looks up at me and gives an embarrassed blush before gently letting go. "R-Right, Sorry," He proceeds to rub the back of his head. "Hmhm, Now then, Let's get you inside" "Right" We proceed to walk along the terrace, passing by a nearby pool. "You have a pool? That's awesome!" "You don't have one?" "No, but I'm sure I could get one. We could probably fit an indoor pool in the empire somewhere," I put a hoof to my chin and think about the thought of a pool in the empire. We reach the front door and I turn back to him. "Got the key to the door or do we just knock?" "I got the key right here," He points to his eye. "What?" He approaches the door and stands in front of a little device that's next to the door. He closes one eye and leans closely to a spot on the device where It begins to emit red little lights that appear to scan his eye. Shortly after, he leans back and the device makes a few beeping sounds and lights up green. We hear the sound of the door being unlocked and he gently puts his hoof on the door handle. "W.. What did you just do?" I ask. "I unlocked the door" "Well, yeah but how? What is that thing?" "A Retinal scanner" "A retina-wha?" "A device that scans your eye and if you're registered in the system it unlocks the door for you. Currently the only folk registered in the system are my mother and I" "I thought it was a doorbell" He chuckles at my words. He opens the door a bit before looking back at me. "My mother should be inside still working on her inventions and stuff" "What does your mother do?" "My mother's a Scientist" I get taken aback by his words, looking awfully surprised and just staring at him. He enters the home for a moment then peaks back outside. "You coming?" He asks. "Y-Yeah," I soon follow him inside. He shuts the door behind us and magically levitates Lariat down to the ground. "Go play with your toys, Lariat. I'm going to introduce, Flurry to mom, Okay?" Lariat gives a gentle nod and a smile. He hops away into another room. I take a moment to look around the spacious penthouse, finding the décor to be rather intriguing. The house is rather luxurious with fancy and expensive furniture set about the room. The walls are painted white with golden trim and opposite of the front door is a clear view of the city. I look to my left and see a large theater like living room and to the right of that is the a large cleanly kept kitchen. "Wow! I must say, I'm impressed!" "Thank you! Please, follow me and I'll lead you to my mother's work space," He leads the way, taking me past the living room and kitchen. I admire the beauty of this magnificent home as he leads on. we reach some form of large metal door that oddly stands out from the rest of the place. There is a device on the side of the door that looks like some sort of pad that you type numbers into. Void looks back at me to speak. "Uh, could you turn away for a second?" "Huh? oh uh, sure," I turn away from the door for a moment and he proceeds to type in a code onto the pad. I hear the metallic sound of the door whooshing open and I turn back towards him. "Welcome to my mother's work space" We walk through the doorway and enter a very large lab room, filled to the brim with all sorts of science equipment. Machines, test tubes, beakers, you name it. It all looks like something straight out of a Sci-fi movie. There is a gentle sound of humming and beeping coming from the machines and devices around, giving this place soothing atmosphere to it. My jaw remains dropped at the sight of this place and my enjoyment expands the further we proceed. "Woooah" "Now where is... ah, there she is" I turn my gaze back towards the direction we face and I take notice of the mare ahead of us tinkering with objects on some sort of workstation, their back towards us. They stand in a bi-pedal stance while they work. We approach the mare closer and from my position I can see this pony wears a long white lab coat that almost reaches the ground. The have a long blue mane and tail and the tone of their coat also is white. The mare seems like she's wearing glasses and is looking through a microscope. Gazing up further I notice that they are a unicorn. "Void, Sweetie? Is that you?" The mare lets out in a soothing motherly tone. "Yes, It's me, mother" The mare looks up at a clock on the wall. "Well you're home early. I was expecting you within the next hour," The mare stops looking through the microscope and takes off their glasses, setting them aside. "Yes, well... I had a little help this time and I brought them over. I hope you don't mind. They're here with us right now" "Hmmm? You brought a friend? Well that's nice to hear! let's see who it--" The mare turns around after pausing her work. She spots me with her purplish blue eyes and gives me an intrigued look. "Is... Huh. Well, I'll be..." The mare says with a grin upon her face. [Chapter 2 End]