Princess Twilight,
I need you and your friends to come to Canterlot as soon as possible. Something urgent has come to Luna and I’s attention that requires your help.
This is a precaution, but bring the Elements of Harmony and the Chaos Emeralds. I hope that we do not have to resort to using them, but something tells me that we may need to.
Best regards,
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna
P.S. And bring your new friend with you as well. Luna and I would like to meet him.
“Wait - are they talking about me?” Real asks, leaning over to get a better look. “How would they know I’m here? I just got to… wait,” He pauses, remembering something. “Actually, never mind, Luna can enter the dream realm at will. She would know months in advance.”
“What the - who are you?!” Spike exclaims, finally noticing the human. He turns to his mother figure, a confused look on his face. “Twilight, what’s a human doing in Equestria?”
“Long story short, he’s not from the Mirror World, but another one. His name is Real,” Real reaches over Twilight and holds his hand out.
“Nice to meet you, Spike.”
The lanky dragon hesitantly shakes his hand, but he casts that feeling to the side for now. He enjoys meeting new people, even if they're a literal impossibility. “Nice to meet you too, Real.”
“Now, back to more important matters,” He eyes the letter again. “What’s so urgent that the princesses want you to bring both the Elements of Harmony and the Chaos Emeralds with us?”
“I’m not sure,” Twilight shrugs, rereading the letter in case she missed anything. She didn’t. “I’ll head to the Tree of Harmony and get the Elements. Sonic, do you still have the Emeralds with you?”
“Yep.” The Chaos Emeralds appear around Sonic, circling him. Real stares in awe at the Seven Miracle Gems, his mouth agape and eyes sparkling. Sonic calls them back, which snaps Real out of it. Twilight then turns to Spike.
“Spike, stay here with Starlight and keep watch over the castle while we’re gone,” Spike salutes, a semi-serious look on his face as he does so. Twilight then turns to the others. “The rest of you head to the train station, and I’ll meet you there.” She quickly charges her mana, and with a flash of lavender, she’s gone.
“Alright, you heard the mare,” Real says, heading for the exit. “Let’s get going.”
At the Ponyville Station, the Mane Seven and Real wait on the platform for Twilight to get back with the Elements. He was about to ask where Twilight was, but that was when the Friendship Express pulled into the station, drawing his attention to the locomotive pulling it. The train screeches to a halt, blowing out steam from the cylinders as they stop moving.
‘Sheesh, how is this one of only two engines in Equestria?’ Real thinks to himself, rolling his eyes. ‘There’s no way this little 4-4-0 is making trips across the continent alone, is there?’
‘Plus, the station itself could use some major upgrades too. The platform’s way too short for how many cars there are, and there needs to be a second platform on the other side with another track or two in between. If this is the same all across Equestria, there must be some serious backlog of passenger and freight trains. Actually, do freight cars even exist here? Hmm… I’ll have to ask Twilight if there’s a way I can help improve the railroad here if that’s the case. Maybe if I…?’
Before Real could further question the abomination that is the Equestrian Railroad, the doors to the passenger cars open as ponies and Mobians file out onto the tiny platform. To avoid unnecessary attention, Real pulls his hood over his head, hoping to prevent a panic that might break out if someone else saw him, and especially not one specific human enthusiast. As the last pony leaves the station, flapping wings draw their attention to the sky, and they see Twilight coming in for a landing. The Elements of Harmony levitate in her magic, and the Element of Magic rests on her messy mane.
“You’re late,” Tionic says, spotting Twilight’s manedo. “You run into trouble?”
“You could say that,” She sighs, landing on the platform. She ruffles her feathers, and Tionic plucks a few twigs from them and her mane. “I had to deal with some rouge Timberwolves that came out of nowhere.”
“O-oh, are you ok? Those Timberwolves didn’t hurt you, did they?” Fluttershy stutters. She knew how ferocious Timberwolves were, and encountering even one was a death wish for anyone. Well, except for the Mane Eight - then the Timberwolves would be reduced to firewood within seconds.
“I’m alright, Fluttershy,” Twilight says, resting a hoof on the shy pegasus’ shoulder to console her. “They did seem agitated, but it might be because of what happened earlier.”
“I see you got the Elements, darling,” Rarity says, eyeing her Element. “Thank you for getting them for us.” She levitates the Element of Generosity out of Twilight’s aura towards her and clips it around her neck. “Ah, still fits like a dream.”
Twilight levitates the other elements to their respective owners, though Pinkie bounces into the necklace, and it clips around her neck - somehow.
I stopped asking last chapter.
Right as they did this, the conductor leans out of a nearby passenger car and bellows, “NEXT STOP FOR CANTERLOT WILL BE LEAVING IN ONE MINUTE!”
“Guess we should get on before they leave without us,” Real says, starting toward an empty passenger car. “Don’t want to get left behind, do we?”
They agree and quickly board the train. The conductor pops his head out again, waving a green flag to signal the engineer. The engineer gets it and opens the reverser. The pistons spew steam, and the coupling rods start moving the four drive wheels. With a loud whistle, the train chuffs away from the Ponyville station, bound for Canterlot.
Three hours later, the screeching of steel on magically fused steel grates on the ears of anyone in the Canterlot Station as the Friendship Express pulls in.
Once they get the all-clear from the conductor, Sonic is the first one to leave the train, ecstatic to be out of the cramped space that was the train. The Mane Seven and Real leave the passenger car behind him.
“Mmmmph… man, it feels nice to be out of there,” Sonic groans, stretching his arms and legs. He takes a deep breath in, reveling in the fresh air that enters his lungs. “If I was in there for another second, I would’ve gone crazy!”
“You probably would have,” Dash says, rolling her eyes. “You looked like you were about to explode!”
“Probably would have, but I didn’t, so there’s that.”
“Ok, you two, let’s go,” Applejack chuckles, gesturing for them to follow. “The princesses are waitin’ fer us!”
“You heard the farm girl,” Tionic says, heading toward the exit. “Let’s go!”
The group quickly make their way out of the station and make their way down Royal Boulevard, which leads straight to the castle. A few heads turn when they recognize the Mane Eight, their many titles and accomplishments over the years preceding them. But more heads pivoted toward Real, as his cloaked figure towered over most, if not everyone there.
Rarity leans to Real, lowering her voice so only he could hear her. “Darling, did you have to deal with this much staring while you traveled?”
He shakes his head. “No, I typically avoided large cities and towns for that reason and among others. But sometimes I had to go in to get some supplies, so I had to deal with it.”
A scream from further down the street instantly grabs their attention, and the angry yelling draws in the civilians around them.
“What the heck was that?!” Real exclaims, grabbing the hilt of his bat out of instinct.
“Whatever it was, it didn’t sound good,” Sonic says, a grim look on his face. “We gotta check it out.”
They charge down the street and reach a crowded, circular intersection in the middle of the city. Judging by the size of it, it was most likely meant for large gatherings or parties. Built into the concrete is a sun being held by a moon, symbolizing the city’s rulers and their joint rulership. Near the middle stands a white unicorn stallion with a yellow mane, a scowl overtaking his face.
He stands above two Mobian kids; a gray fox pup with white highlights and teary yellow eyes lays on the ground. He wears a red shirt, blue pants, and gray shoes. A tan rabbit kit with light brown highlights and fierce green eyes stands in front of the fox, arms raised to her sides. She wears a light blue shirt, gray shorts, and purple sandals. They look old enough to be about twelve or thirteen, though their small faces say at least ten.
“… I’ll be right back,” Real says, his voice shifting to a dangerous tone as he recognizes the unicorn as ‘Prince’ Blueblood. His eyes unknowingly glow bright blue as he makes his way toward the stallion, intent on doing something. Twilight starts to panic, realizing what Real is about to do as she tries to stop him.
“Real, wait, you can’t go after -!” A hand placed on her withers stops her mid-sentence. Turning around, she sees Tionic holding her back, an odd smile on his face.
“Twilight, wait,” Tionic says, and he turns to Real, nodding. “Real, this is a stupid idea, but it’s a stupid idea I’m willing to get behind. Make sure that jerk doesn’t hurt those kids but don’t hurt him. We don’t want rumors spreading to the princess about a menace attacking a Prince before you even meet them.”
“Will do,” Real nods and his hands glow blue as he taps into his pendant. In a flash of blue, he disappears, leaving his cloak behind as it falls to the ground. Tionic picks it up, folding it neatly before draping it over his arm.
“Tio, why did you let him go?!” Twilight exclaims, her mane beginning to fray as she freaks out. “Real shouldn’t have gone out there to confront Blueblood, much less alone!”
“I’m curious to see how he’ll react in this kind of situation,” He says, smoothing out Twilight’s mane and calming her down. “Let’s see how this plays out. And if it gets out of hand, we’ll step in.”
“I hope you’re right about this.”
“Don’t worry, I usually am.”
“Get out of the way, runt!” Blueblood yells, scowling at the rabbit kit that is blocking his way. “You have no part in this!”
“If it has something to do with my friend, I do!” She shouts, not moving from her spot in front of the fox cub. “Now get away from him!”
“Then I guess I’ll have to punish you as well!” He reels his hoof back and throws it. The rabbit kit closes her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.
But it never comes. Slowly, she cracks an eye open, and she gasps when she sees a hand in front of her face, firmly grasping Blueblood’s hoof and preventing it from hitting her. She backs up slightly when she sees who the hand belongs to, but she moves to block the fox cub from it as well.
“Who do you think you are?!” Blueblood shouts, enraged that somepony would have the audacity to touch him. “Do you know who I am? I stand higher than -!”
He stops mid-sentence as he finally looks at the one who stopped him. Crouching before him was Real, fully decloaked from his teleport. He crouches there, scowling as he makes eye contact with Blueblood, who starts sweating bullets.
“You stand higher than what?” Real asks, raising an eyebrow. He stands up, towering a full foot over the ’prince’. “Did you mean figuratively or literally? Because you’re nowhere near my height, shorty.”
The crowd gasps in shock. The appearance of a creature they had never seen before shocked the ponies, even more so for the Mobians, but the fact that he was insulting Prince Blueblood of all ponies blew them away.
“W-who are you?” Blueblood stammers, attempting to remove his hoof from Real’s hand. “What are you?”
“Hmph,” Real scoffs, letting go of his hoof. He turns to the two Mobian kids, who quiver in fear as he gazes at them. “The better question is, what are you doing to these kids?”
Still wanting to set an example of the two children, Blueblood gathers himself, clearing his throat. “I-I’m punishing them for thinking that it is okay for creatures other than ponies to be allowed to live inside this fair city, as they will taint it and everypony that lives here. They deserve to go back to where they belong - back to their land with the rest of their lowly scum.”
The way he said that last word was like he was spitting out poison. He hoped this strange being would agree with him and his ‘ideals’. Unfortunately, this was never to be. A vein bulges on Real’s forehead as his temper starts to rise.
“You’re kidding me, right?” Real asks calmly, unsettling Blueblood with how calmly he said it while still sounding threatening. “You’re taking out your hatred for Mobians or any non-pony-” He gives the kids a small but noticeable wink and turns back to the unicorn. “- on two innocent kids that have no idea why you’re getting pissed at them? You have got to be the biggest dick in this whole city for the level of racism and assholery that would rival damn Nazis.”
The crowd gasps again, this time because of the absolute bravery and truth, or foolishness and idiocy Real spoke and displayed. Blueblood especially had an ego the size of the Moon, and they knew it was best to ignore his demands or go along with what he wanted. The rest of the nobles weren’t any better, either. Besides Fancypants and Fleur de Lis, of course. Due to the appearance of the Mobian continent in the Celestial Sea years ago, there was bound to be some backlash between the high societies of both worlds. Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, Sonic the Hedgehog, and G.U.N. settled things down before they got out of hand, but there were always those few that could never change.
Blueblood stood there, his jaw dropped to the floor as his mind tried to compute what Real just said to him. “Wh-what did you just call me?” He steps forward, a scowl forming on his face.
“You heard me,” Real frowns, folding his arms. “You are the biggest dick in the city for the level of assholery you’ve shown towards two kids. Do I need to spell it out, or do you know your ABCs?”
“How DARE you call me something like that and insult me!” Blueblood exclaims, disgust written all over his face. “Do you know who I am?!”
‘Oh boy, he brought out the ‘do you know who I am?’ schtick,’ Real thinks, rolling his eyes. ‘All those hours of Karen videos sure are coming in handy now. And everyone said it was a waste of time - HA! Eat that, suckers!’
Step one: Insult their ego.
“Do I look like I care who you are, Blueblood?” He says casually. “Also, the height difference isn’t helping you right now. Come back after you’ve grown up as a stallion and put on a few inches, then we’ll talk.”
The crowd starts to laugh, and Blueblood’s face turns beet red. Desperate to salvage what was left of his dignity, he tries to force himself upon Real. “You will address me as my title states, peasant! I am a prince, and you will address me as so!”
Step two: Mockingly ‘submit’ to their claims.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Real says, clasping his hands together, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He gets on his knees, mock begging with a cocky smirk. “I truly am a peasant compared to you! Oh, will you ever forgive me, Prince Pushover?”
The crowd chuckles at the display, though they weren’t all laughing. Pinkie and Rainbow try their hardest to hold their laughter in while the others giggle at the scene unfolding before them.
“Enough!” Blueblood shouts, his face somehow turning an even darker shade of red. Seeing he was losing control of this argument, he tried to threaten Real. “I don’t know what you are doing or planning, but if you continue this tirade, I will have the Royal Guard arrest you and these degenerates!”
Step three: Abuse any hole in their idea and turn it against them.
“Go ahead, then!” Real taunts, waving his arms out. “See if they’ll arrest kids for a crime they didn’t commit! And I highly doubt they’ll even try to take me in, seeing as they probably won’t take a ‘peasant’ to jail!”
That gets the crowd. Everyone roars with laughter; Rainbow and Pinkie Pie fall to the ground, laughing so hard that tears roll out of their eyes.
“Shut up, all of you!” Blueblood roars, slamming a hoof on the ground, hoping to stop the crowd from laughing. Yeah, like that’s gonna happen. “I will have the lot of you arrested for this and put in jail for -!”
Step four:
Real grabs him by the collar, lifting him so that he is at eye level.
If all else fails,
“What are you doing?!” He shouts, attempting to squirm out of Real’s grasp. “Put me down, you miserable piece of -!”
Intimidate the shit out of them.
“Shut. Up.” Real demands. A powerful, dark blue aura surrounds the human, shutting Blueblood up instantly as he feels terror shoot through his being.
“Woah,” Sonic mutters, rubbing his arms as his quills bristle. “Just looking at that is terrifying. How the buck is Real doing this?”
“I don’t know, but I really hope he stops,” Fluttershy whimpers, quivering as she curls into a ball. “It feels like what happened when Sonic turned that Dark Super form a few years ago.”
Sonic’s eyes widen in realization as he looks back at Real and sees what she is talking about. The dark aura felt eerily similar to Dark, and the only things lacking were the black hair and lack of pupils. But Real still had his normal dark blond hair, and his eyes were… glowing blue? Sonic does a double take, but he shakes it off and turns to the shy pegasus.
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” He pats the ball of pink hair to calm the shy mare. “I believe Real knows what he’s doing.”
But even Sonic was starting to doubt his own words. There was something about Real that didn’t sit right with Tionic, and he couldn’t place a finger on what. Back with Blueblood, he couldn’t look away from the deadly gaze of Real that pierced his own. He felt that if he did, he might die a horrible death.
“I’ve had enough of your bullshit,” Real growls, the guttural sound sending shivers down everyone’s backs. “I’ve seen one too many ‘things’ from my home to know that not everything is sunshine and flowers. But that does not mean I will tolerate it when I am perfectly capable of stopping such ridiculous acts of blatant idiocy, and abuse of power.”
Real pulls him closer so they are nose to nose. “I will say this once and only once. If I find out that you have been abusing others again, asserting yourself above them for no apparent reason or just because you feel like it, I will not hesitate to beat your ass to near death, then send you to the deepest pits of Tartarus, and then banish that place to the core of the Sun. Do I make myself clear?”
Blueblood nods frantically, now openly crying in fear. He was so terrified that he’d soiled himself, evident by the small yellow puddle underneath him.
“I think it’s time to pull Real back,” Tionic sighs, starting toward the middle. “Let’s go get him before this escalates any further. Real, calm down!”
He turns to the Spark, and his expression softens as the dark aura disappears. Realizing what had happened, he drops the petrified unicorn, who makes a beeline for the crowd the second his hooves hit the ground. Seeing that whatever just happened was over, the crowd dispersed. Real then turns to the Mane Eight, rubbing the back of his neck, he smiles sheepishly. “Hey, guys. Sorry about that. When I get really angry like that, something in me snaps, and I have to let it out one way or another, or else I end up hurting someone.”
“It’s alright, kid,” Tionic sighs, placing a hand on Real’s shoulder. “Just be sure to keep that in check next time, okay?”
“I’ve been doing my best, but I haven’t seen much progress,” Real sighs. He then notices that the two Mobian kids had hidden behind his legs, putting him between the fleeing Prince Blueblood and themselves.
“Hey, you two alright?” Real asks, smiling like he hadn’t scared someone out of their wits. “I didn’t scare you too badly, did I?”
“You were trying to be scary?” The rabbit asks as she pulls the fox back on his feet. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but thanks for helping us, mister.”
‘Wait, they weren't scared?’ Real thinks, internally raising an eyebrow. ‘Either they weren’t affected by it, or they were too focused on keeping their distance from Blueblood.’
“There’s nothing to worry about,” Real says, kneeling to their level. “Do you know where your parents are? They’re probably worried sick about you two.”
“They know where we are,” The fox pup says, slowly coming out behind his friend. “They let us go and play outside and explore while they catch up with each other, so long as we stay close by. They’re in the café right around the corner.”
‘Wow, despite how shy he is, he seems pretty responsible, like Fluttershy,’ Real thinks, and he reaches into the pouch hanging by his waist. “Here, I wanna give you two something. Cup your hands together and close your eyes for a second.”
They hesitantly oblige as they hold their hands out, clenching their eyes tight. Real pulls his clenched fists out of his pouch and over their palms before opening them, letting what he held clink into their waiting hands. “Think of this as compensation for what just happened. Use it however you want, alright?”
Looking at their palms, their eyes widen in surprise when they see what Real just gave them - twenty-five bits each.
“This is for us?!” The rabbit exclaims, grinning from ear to ear. “Thank you so much, mister!”
“Thank you!” The fox pup says, pocketing the money. He and the rabbit give Real a grateful hug as thanks. Separating, they run off to the nearest candy shop, waving goodbye.
“Darling, that was so generous of you!” Rarity gushes, holding a hoof to her muzzle. “How much did you give them?”
“Enough to make them feel better after what just happened to them,” Real says, waving back. “I would want to get something for myself, too, if that had happened to me.”
“We should probably get moving,” Dash says, hovering toward the castle. “The princesses have been waiting long enough for us.”
It takes a few minutes to navigate through the crowded streets of Canterlot to reach the castle gates, but they arrive in one piece. Once Twilight tells the guards the reason for their visit, they’re allowed entry to the castle. Twilight expertly leads the group through the halls, having memorized the layout of the entire castle when she was a filly while under Celestia’s tutelage. They soon arrived at the giant double doors leading into the Throne Room, where the princesses waited.
Twilight’s magic easily pushes them apart, letting her and her friends walk on through. The hallway is incredibly long, with towering quartz columns stretching to the ceiling between the many windows that line both walls. A few have different designs on them, telling of past events that have occurred in Equestria, the more recent events placed towards the end of the room. A long velvet carpet extends to the end, where two thrones lie, and two large alicorns converse with each other, one holding what seems to be a photograph in her golden aura.
The tallest has a pure white coat with a slight pink tinge that makes her beauty shine even brighter. Her Cutie Mark is that of the Sun, signifying her connection to the celestial body. Her mane and tail consist of pink, green, light blue, and magenta in that respective order, slowly moving like it was being blown by a non-existent wind. A long, spiral horn protrudes from her mane and in front of her intricately designed golden crown, which holds a purple gem in the center. Her necklace has another gem just like it, but her hoof guards are bare of any. Her magenta eyes hold centuries of wisdom and kindness beyond many, but hidden behind that is a mare who has fought battles and wars, and seen and experienced many untold things during her rule.
The alicorn beside her starkly contrasts her sister, her coat a deep navy blue, the tinge of black around the edges giving her a commanding presence. Her cutie mark is a splotch of black on her flank with a crescent moon in the middle and small stars around it, meaning she had some connection to the orbiting satellite in the sky. Her mane looks as if someone took a piece of the sky and placed it on her head and tail, and it moves on an invisible wind as well. Her horn is nearly as long as her sister, but not quite. Her regalia is practically the same as her sister’s, but they’re made of black material with blue gems. Her blueish-green eyes pierce through the soul, but a sense of calmness and serenity can be found deep within.
Princess Celestia notices the group approaching them, and a warm smile adorns her face as she puts the photo down on her throne.
“Twilight!” She smiles, trotting over to greet her former student. She embraces her fellow princess, happy to see Twilight doing well. “It is good to see you after all this time. How have things been in Ponyville?”
“They’ve been going great, Celestia,” Twilight says, nuzzling Celestia. She pulls away to face the princess. “We need to talk about your nephew later. We ran into him earlier, and the experience was ‘pleasant,’ to say the least.”
“Oh, really?” Celestia says, raising an eyebrow. “I can imagine. Blueblood has been acting quite brash recently, so I will ask him about it later. Now, I would like to ask about those strange purple clouds that I saw heading toward Ponyville a few hours ago. Did something happen?”
“Those clouds were not normal in any shape, way, or form,” Tionic pipes up, approaching his fellow royalty. “Whatever they were, they started summoning Storm Creatures out of the blue and attacked the town.”
“Storm Creatures? Do you mean those under the Storm King’s command?” Celestia asks, surprised by that piece of information. “I thought they all disbanded after the Storm King was destroyed. Why are they attacking again?”
“That is something that we would like to know as well, sister,” Princess Luna says, joining the conversation. “Pray tell, Twilight, would thou have any idea?”
“No, not really, Luna,” Twilight frowns, shaking her head. “They arrived weirdly, though.”
“How so?”
“Those clouds brought strange purple towers that grew from the ground wherever pink lightning would strike," Twilight says. "We managed to figure out how to take them out, but we had some help.” She gestures to Real, who stood silent with the others, hidden under his cloak as he watched the royals converse with each other.
“You are the visitor that came to Equis a few months back, correct?” Celestia asks, and Real nods. “I was wondering when we would finally be able to meet you after Luna explored your dreams.”
“The pleasure’s all mine, Princess Celestia,” He says, bowing slightly. “I guess I should introduce myself, shouldn’t I?” Pulling his cloak off, Celestia and Luna are surprised to see a human standing before them. Celestia had heard of them through Twilight when she went through the Mirror Portal, but she never expected to see one face to face. “My name is Real, and I’m from another world called Earth. It’s great to finally meet the ones responsible for the night and day of Equis.”
“It is our pleasure to finally meet you, Real,” Celestia smiles warmly, nodding to the human. “I would have never expected to meet someone from another world, but you are not exactly the first.” She gestures to Sonic and Tionic.
“Well, they are the fastest things alive, but that’s to be expected,” Real shrugs. “I’d say more, but I think one speedster’s ego is big enough already - Equestria doesn’t need two.”
That got a chuckle from the princesses, but the girls laughed. Sonic wears a mock face of hurt, and Tionic rolls his eyes. “Aw, c’mon, it’s not that big, right?” Sonic asks, but he and Tionic soon join in on the laughter. Once the laughter dies down, Celestia clears her throat, catching everyone's attention.
“Now, if I could have your attention, please,” She says, flaring her wings. “I wish I could have called you for a friendly visit, but there are more pressing matters at hoof. The reason why I called all of you here was that something has developed recently.”
“A great evil has risen, and it’s something that Luna and I know nothing of. Not even Discord knows, and you know he has been around longer than us.” Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie gasp, while Sonic, Dash, Tionic, and Real raise an eyebrow.
“Wait, what do you mean you don’t know?” Dash wonders, tilting her head. “How does Discord not know even if he’s older than you?”
“That is just it, Rainbow Dash,” Luna frowns. “We cannot find the answer. Nothing in the Canterlot Archives mentions anything like it. Even the texts in the forbidden section are useless to us.”
“There’s a forbidden section in the library?!” Twilight shouts, her eyes sparkling like fireworks and a smile that rivals Pinkie’s when she’s on a sugar rush and gets one of her more… crazier party ideas appear on her face.
“Classic Twilight,” Tionic chuckles, rolling his eyes at his wife's reaction. “Focusing on books even when the world is at stake.” Everyone laughs a bit, especially Celestia, who knew this to be true. Tionic snaps his fingers in front of her face to snap Twilight out of it. “Twi, you can ask them about the forbidden section later. We’re a little busy at the moment.”
The sparkle in Twilight’s eyes dies down, and she pulls herself together. “Sorry,” She says sheepishly, her cheeks heating slightly. “Got a little excited there. Please, continue.”
Luna nods and continues from where she left off. “As we were saying, there was nothing me and my sister could find. Even Discord was of no help to us, which further complicated things. We even asked Princess Cadance if she could help, but to no avail.”
“Do you at least have an idea of what we’re up against?” Real asks, wondering what this so-called 'threat' was. “Like what it looks like, where it is, how long it’s been there, you know, that kinda stuff.”
“Actually,” Celestia remembers a report she read a few days ago, which had detailed information about Equestria's weather systems. “In a weather report from two weeks ago, it said they discovered a large, purple cloud mass appeared over the Prancing Plains. The landscape was reported to have been dramatically altered, and eyewitness accounts say that they heard a deafening roar before a large blast of wind and lightning came from within the heart of the storm."
“Wait, there are multiple storms?” Real says, unnerved by this. “I thought that the one that formed over Chicacolt was the only one!”
Celestia shakes her head. “Unfortunately, no, that is not true. Since then, there have been more sightings all over Equestria, ranging from Yakyakistan to the Klugetown.”
“Aw, ponyfeathers,” Real curses, planting his hand to his face, a loud smack echoing down the hallway. “This just got a whole lot more complicated.”
“Now, two days after the largest of the storms appeared, I sent a scout to investigate the Prancing Plains and bring back some photographs of the area so we could know what we were up against. When the scout returned a week later, he looked like he had flown nonstop from the Plains - his wings were missing large patches of feathers, and he was bleeding around the joints."
Dash cringes at the thought. While she could fly for days, maybe weeks on end without needing to rest, she knew the risks of wing overclocking. It could lead to feather loss, muscle and joint deterioration, internal blekey line magical pathway disruption, and bone fracturing if a Pegasus went past their limits without proper training, flew for long periods of time without rest, or exuded too much flight magic at once. Dash could handle all that with an insane mastery, having pushed herself past her limits multiple times in her training to become a Wonderbolt and keep up with her husband's insane speed, so she was no stranger to risk. But as she imagined how bad the scout's wings must've been, memories of her own mangled wings and screams of pain echo through her mind, and she shakes in fear.
Sonic sees her shiver out of the corner of his eye, and he instantly recognizes that reaction. Ever since Dash broke her wings in the fight with Nazo years ago, her wings would involuntarily twitch whenever somepony mentioned broken wings. Her wings had healed entirely since then, and they'd even come out stronger than before, thanks to the enormous amount of Chaos radiation they were exposed to during the fight. But years later, she still held mental scars, and the fear of breaking her wings permanently felt all too real for the prismatic mare. Sonic quickly pulls her into a side hug, kissing her cheek to calm her nerves. She leans into the embrace, wrapping her wing around his back as she nuzzles his cheek, sneaking a thankful peck in.
"The scout managed to give us what he had gathered in the field before collapsing of exhaustion," Celestia continues, bringing over the photo she left on her throne. "After he was taken to the infirmary for treatment, we looked at the photos… and I believe I understood why the scout was so determined to get this to us in record time.”
(Ignore the human and the zombies)
The girls gasped in shock at the sight of the behemoth, while the two speedsters were a little confused by what they were looking at. But Real was a stark contrast to them. His eyes had shrunk to mere pinpricks, and his face was drained of all color. His heart dropped to his stomach, and he wore an expression of shock, horror, and the most dominant - fear.
"No..." He whispers, taking a shaky step back. The Mane Eight and the princesses look at Real, confused as to why he is so scared suddenly. "No, nononononononono. T-that’s impossible… that… that thing shouldn’t be here… h-he shouldn’t even exist… not here…”
“Real, are you alright?” Twilight asks, resting a hoof on his forearm to garner his attention. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
He doesn't acknowledge Twilight, and his breathing becomes erratic. His eyes vibrate in place, but never leave the photo and the behemoth shown. He slowly raises a shaky finger and points at the picture.
“That’s… that’s the Storm King.”