Disciple chuckled, "I don't know about that, a good enemy can keep you on your toes, keep you improving. Not having an enemy is... boring sometimes."
He shook his head as he followed Cali, "You going to stay that way? You'll give some poor pony a heart attack."
Their path takes them into the forest, and it isn't long before they hear the sound of two young ponies arguing, "I told you this was the wrong way!" "Liar! I was the one who told you!"
Clearly they were lost.
Cali smirked as she reverted back to her normal form. "As true as you say, a too strong of an enemy will end up with you know, someone dying and that's not good is it?" she'd smirk as they walked, eventually coming across the two young ponies. She'd observe the argument.
To them, they would see a blue unicorn mare, and Disciple standing next to her. "Hey." she'd initiate a conversation with the two ponies. "What's going on here? Looks like you are lost." she would ask.
The young ponies were, understandably, a bit nervous at being approached in the middle of the woods by a stranger and... whatever Disciple was.
Disciple had adjusted his form prior to coming into view of the ponies so as to make his features less distinct as well as taking on a glow that made him seem more angelic or ghostly.
Despite their nerves, one of them, a pegasus colt, stepped up to respond, "Um.. yeah... we're trying to get back to Ponyville, but we've gotten a bit turned around here in the forest."
The other pony, an earth pony filly, added, "Do you know the way?"
Cali smirks. "Ponyville? I've been there before. Would you like me to fly you there? I am sure me and my...interesting friend here wouldn't mind. We have plenty of time to do what we were going to do." she'd say to them. "Don't be alarmed though, we are not your usual...ponies? Or something? But promise you, we will get you home." Cali said, offering a hoof to them in attempt to get them to trust her. They would notice Cali didn't have wings.
Cali not having wings definitely contributed to the young ponies' hesitance to go with her, though the biggest turnoff was likely when she said that she wasn't a normal pony.
They backed up when Cali offered her hoof, "N-n-no thanks, I... I think I know the way now, um... lets go."
That said they would start to trot off, looking back every so often to see if they were being followed.
Disciple sighed, "You really need to work on your approach, ponies are skittish by nature." He snapped and they appeared further down the path in the direction the young ponies had been walking, they startled when they saw that the pair had somehow gotten past them, Disciple chuckled, "Ponyville is the other way, if you get above the treeline you can see the castle and use that to guide you."
The ponies still seemed skeptical, but nodded as they turned to go the other way. They'd get some distance before the pegasus colt would take wing up to the treeline to confirm that what the Disciple said was true.
Disciple would turn to Cali, "See? Usually they much prefer to solve their own problems anyway, not just to have their problems solved for them. Well, the younger ones do at least."
Cali was impressed by Disciple's resolve and did not enjoy the way she was snapped at but did not speak any further of that. She smiled slightly as the young ponies began heading back from where they came. She silently lamented her thoughts as the left. She frowned at the way the ponies did not trust her. Deep down, she hated that and was a bit jarred by the way Disciple teleported them off like that.
She sighed and looked to him curiously. "You speak of problems but....what problems do you have? If you can so easily deal with situations, then what would be something you are struggling with? As of yet, I do not see any fallibility in your logic or your actions." she'd quirk her eyebrow slightly.
Disciple cocked an eyebrow in surprise, "Hmm? I suppose I have a few problems of my own, the least of which being that I don't know my own name, nor remember much of my life before I came here. Beyond that, there's the ever-present boredom one has when they have vast amounts of ability but no strong purpose. I drift about looking for things to interest me, things I can put my considerable ability towards. Yet time and time again those things fade over time. I've yet to find a calling in this world other than a benevolent jokester who wanders the countryside."
Cali sighs and continued walking alongside him. She didn't really care what direction, or where they were going at the moment. "You know honestly, my situation is sort of similar. I have all of this ability. I could easily cause massive problems for others and say, steal all of the wealth in this land for myself but that wouldn't amount to anything good, would it? Honestly, I am the best thief there is but after all that has happened I am no longer interested in acquiring physical wealth. Sure, it looks good but does it feel good? Not at all. It just leaves you more empty than you were before." she sulked slightly at those words.
"It has only been recently that I have caused a massive ruckus in the town known as...ponyville. I was not in the right mindset clearly. Only upon being threatened with banishment from this dimension among other things did I really realize, you know? I have 'Starburst' to thank for relaxing charges against me. I have to say, those 6 ponies made this world peaceful. It's best we keep it that way. My brief stint and reveal before...dozens? Possibly more? Was thankfully the worst it had gone to." she chuckled a bit at those words.
"I've been to more worlds than I can count. I've met a lifetime's worth of people, made so many enemies with my reckless act and pursuit of power...I've been through enough pain and punishment to realize such pursuits are not only not rewarding, but punishing, utterly degrading, and life risking. Its definitely time to settle down somewhere and no longer do that." she'd say in a quite honest fashion.
Disciple chuckled, "I saw that, that show you put on for Starburst. There was some nice buildup but a fairly anticlimactic ending. A good twist at the end, but anyway." He waved a hand dismissively, "It seems you've going down one of the same paths I sent the elements down. Get them to question what their element means, think themselves unworthy of bearing it, only for them to have a self discovery and find that they didn't understand their role in the first place. It sounds like you're between losing faith and self discovery, I wonder what sort you'll be when you come out the other side?"
Cali rose an eyebrow at that. "When I first met Blu I had a certain necklace. I claimed it was an element of disharmony, that being greed. I lied, it was just a trinket. But the fact of the matter is, there is bound to be elements of disharmony out there. But what element do I bear? I may never know. As for 'other' side, I'm afraid it isn't as simple as that. Everyone changes, its...complicated." she frowned a bit at that.
"But hey, we can't simply wait around and let destiny decide. We must decide for ourselves. I don't have any qualms as to where we go or what we do for the foreseeable future. If you have any ideas as to interesting places to go we can. We can even go beyond Equestria if you see fit, or we could go look at one of the mane 6's places. That Fluttershy pony is an interesting one. We should totally walk up and knock on her door and she'll open it and see us." Cali chuckled.
Disciple shrugged, "If there were such a thing as elements of disharmony, Discord would be the one to know them, perhaps he is them? He does look like an amalgamation of several other creatures. Maybe they were all merged into one being?"
He chuckled at the thought, "As to where we're going, we're still headed towards the thestral village are we not? After that, there's certainly a number of other places we can go."
Cali chuckled at her forgetting of the village. "Oh yes we are, onwards!" she'd say and follow after Disciple. Eventually they came across a grassy hill, by this time they were far enough away from other areas that no towns were seen on the horizon. Eventually up ahead was a large abandoned temple adorned in moss and stone. It had a large sphere at the top. "I didn't expect to come across this, have you seen this before?" Cali asked her traveling companion.
Disciple didn't chuckle for once, a more curious look coming to his face, "I can't say I have, though I've hardly been here long enough to see everything. This is part of why I like taking the slow way, you get to see all sorts of things along the way."
With a snap he was at the base of the temple, calling back to Cali, "Well? We going to explore it or what?"
Cali smirked to him. "How about we do? I also thought of information that could potentially destroy the world by the way, not really sure if I should tell you about it but if your interested I can tell you." she'd grin somewhat wildly as she'd cautiously approach the temple, just in case there were any booby traps or anything of that nature.
Disciple would float above the ground, thus avoiding any pressure plates and most tripwires, "Destroy the world? I'd much rather if you didn't. That sort of thing is on my short list of reasons why I don't like people. And I'd much rather not have a reason to kill you."
He looked around the temple as they started exploring, "This looks familiar somehow, but I can't seem to put my finger on it."
Cali sprouted alicorn wings, and also floated above the ground and followed him. "Not really destroy the world per say, but more or less subject us to absolute tyranny. But, let us explore. Perhaps we may find out why this is so familiar to you. I don't remember coming across this before. Maybe you have, long long ago. You were human once, I am human. Maybe you saw this place or one similar to it where you originated from." Cali would watch out for anything unusual, not touching anything.
"What can you tell me about your Earth? It likely is not the same as mine is. But we have a similarity, we are not from this world. We do not belong...technically, but now we are apart of it and we must not interfere with the natural order of things as they go here."
Disciple shrugged, "Maybe, though if it is some foggy memory from Earth I think that would be even more worrying."
He looked over more directly at the question he was asked, "My Earth? I can't say too much unfortunately, I don't hardly remember it other than the fact that I didn't like it. I wasn't happy there, and Discord brought me here. I don't remember my name, my family. Maybe I never had one?" He shrugged, "I can't say I miss it, all things considered."
"My Earth well, I remember a lot. The world was divided between 3 superpowers. Nations with large amounts of power and control. The United States of America, the Empire of Japan, and the Second German Empire. I lived in a town called Hammond. It was a farm town. Lots of amish and rural folk. Small school, too. Everything was normal until I found a gem that gave me the immense power that I had today, and I eventually honed my abilities to the point where I accidentally ripped a role in reality and fell through. From then on, began who I am today. I started off my shapeshifting and magical power by robbing local banks, then eventually...uncovering government secrets." Cali shuddered.
"Using my power, I was unable to uncover that the people of my world were working on time travel and other various destructive weaponries that would very much lead to destruction, as well as the fact that various nations and peoples are in contact with races from other worlds that manipulate outcomes of various events. I was quickly able to become very rich, but I hid my wealth and lived a mostly normal life until the age of 19 or so, and that is when I left and never went back. Can't say I'd go back really....seeing how peaceful this world is compared to mine." she said with an honest, knowing grin.
Disciple kept his eye on Cali as she talked about her past, "Interesting... The names... they sound familiar, but I can't seem to put my finger on it. I think I lived in a place called America... but again I haven't a clue."
He turned his attention back to the temple, "I'm surprised though. As powerful as you were, or are, that those powers didn't manage to turn you into a weapon for them to use, or duplicate the circumstances that gave you your powers for others that they could control. Still, I suppose that's neither here nor there. They can't get to you here."
"Then it is entirely possible you lived in the United States of America, where was from. Specifically, I was from a state called a New York and lived less than a half hour away from Quebec and Canada." she'd say with a slight smile.
"The governments of my world were never able to track me down. As far as I know they had heard of me but were never able to find me. I am just too damn elusive for people who have no access to magic, you know? But given the resources they have, it is entirely possible they have been able to duplicate or experiment with things to create or harvest magic. But let us see what is inside of this temple." she would turn her attention to the temple's interior, so far it seemed to be dark inside resembling an ancient Mayan temple, or something of that sort. With various hieroglyphs, as they entered white flames popped up along the wall as if the temple sensed their presence.
Despite the boasts of his imperviousness Disciple reflexively avoided the fire, "White, either very hot or magical in some way. Probably shouldn't touch those until we know which is true."
Turning his attention to the glyphs on the wall he pondered, "Hmm, I don't know if these look familiar. I highly doubt I could translate them, but I don't think they're pony glyphs."
Cali agreed. "If they aren't pony then perhaps they could be Zebra? Or something else? If this temple is around then why haven't we heard of it? Its very interesting. Maybe it is alien in some nature." Cali agreed as she continued.
It seemed oddly silent within these halls, everything felt strange. As if they did not belong here. The white flames illuminated in strange angles. They felt a sudden influence come over them as they got a certain distance within the temple.
Disciple shook his head, "Nothing old here could be from zebras, they're not native to this continent. Though... neither are ponies. Maybe it's from whatever lived here before the ponies? It doesn't look like changeling architecture, maybe griffons? Some forest dwelling race?"
He'd slow his movements when the presence was felt. "Something's here with us, be on your guard."
Cali felt the presence. "Wait...ponies aren't native from this continent either? I never knew that." she'd hush up upon feeling the presence and would stand on her guard. "It appears we have more pressing matters. Perhaps we should leave...whatever that is it feels like...a warning." Cali said, while she was confident of her ability, she knew not to get too confident.
Disciple looked over, "You didn't know?" He was about to continue when Cali suggested their departure, "That sounds like a good Idea, best not to make enemies if we can avoid it."
Once / if they left the temple Disciple would elaborate, "Ponies came from a place that they call the Old Lands, and area now overrun by windigos fueled by infighting among the three races of ponies. They then came here to find a new land about... 2 thousand years ago? probably longer."