The early morning swiftly arrived and Thunderlane had work to do. Make breakfast, get his brother, Rumble, to school, and head off to work. It wasn't easy, being the stallion of the house. But after their parents had passed away, there wasn't much choice. He could always just fake sick again if he had to, he had done it plenty of times before. What are they gonna do, fire him from the weather team?
Rumble was still asleep, meaning that Thunderlane could whip up some breakfast for the two of them without interruption. I'm thinking... pancakes. He thought as he entered the kitchen and got out the pancake mix, butter, syrup, oil, and their mom's frying pan. He mixed up the batter in a glass measuring cup kept by the sink before looking into the mix. ,It was missing something. Blueberries.
He pulled out the already opened bag of blueberries from the cupboard and added a hoof full to the mix. If breakfast was just for him, he wouldn't bother to fry it, he would just eat it like this. A groaning sound was heard from the doorway as Thunderlane poured the mix onto the pan, Rumble was awake.
"Mornin', champ." Thunderlane called to the still blurry-eyed colt.
"gbmrbg," replied Rumble, softly.
Twenty minutes later, the two brothers sat at the table, half done with breakfast.
"So how's school been going?" Thunderlane asked.
Rumble rolled his eyes, he did not want to have this conversation, "Same old, same old." Rumble grumbled.
"Learning another good?" Thunderlane asked, amazed at the similarities between this conversation and every conversation they've had for the last few weeks. He would try to talk to Rumble, Rumble would get upset, and that would usually be it. Rumble never really talked much, and the only thing Thunderlane knew he as interested in was flying.
"Nah." Rumble said, his mood clearly souring at the mention of school. Rumble was under the firm belief that whoever invented school ought to be jailed for crimes against foals. Homework, tests, worksheets, and her, he cringed at the thought of her, not even daring to say her name for fear that she might appear.
Do I really have to go to school today?" Rumble asked.
"It won't be so bad." Thunderlane said, trying to comfort his younger brother.
"Couldn't I just pretend I'm sick?" He reasoned desperately.
"What's got you so scared, anyway?" Thunderlane asked, looking concerned.
"Who said anything about being scared? I just... have more important things to do. Whoever learns anything in school anyway?" Rumble defended
"Is that Diamon—?"
"DON'T SAY HER NAME!" Rumble screamed before looking around, fearful she'd appear.
The two brothers sat in silence after that, until it was time for Thunderlane to head to work.
"Alright, you can stay..." Thunderlane relented.
Rumble rushed forward at the speed of light and latched on to Thunderlane's hindlegs, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
Thunderlane made a mental note to talk to Cheerilee later about this, but first, he needed to tell his neighbor, Flitter, that he was planning on not going to work since he has to stay home and take care of his 'sick' brother.
Rumble went back upstairs, most likely to play, while Thunderlane left their house and headed next door. Neither brother noticed the green and brown spider that was hiding in the rafter, watching everything.
Thunderlane was flying towards the Ponyville Schoolhouse, running through what he would say to Cheerilee when he arrived. Flitter had been told, and would let his boss know that he'd be out today, so he didn't have to worry about them. He was relieved he didn't have to go to work today, but wished that Diamond Tiara filly wouldn't be such a hassle. Rumble wasn't the only foal she was mean to, every foal had something mean to say about the way she treated them.
Regardless, he needed to get to the Ponyville Schoolhouse and talk to Cheerilee about it, and tell her that Rumble wasn't going to be attending, before school started.
Thunderlane... A voice called from everywhere, immediately getting the pegasus stallion's attention.
"Who's there?" He asked as fog moved in, forcing him to land on the ground.
Thunderlane... The voice called again, this time from a dark alleyway.
"Hello?" Thunderlane called, trying to peer into the darkness.
Big brother... Rumble called out of the alleyway.
"Rumble, what are you doing back there?" Thunderlane said, entering the alleyway.
It hurts, Thunderlane... Rumble said, shakily.
Thunderlane rushed into the darkness, "Rumble, where are you?" The poor stallion couldn't see anything, it was far too dark. While he couldn't see, he could certainly feel though, as four vines rose from the dirt and grabbed a hold of his hooves.
"Hey, let go!" He struggled, flapping his wings, trying to shake free, but it was no use. Thunderlane soon found himself buried from the neck down in the dirt.
"HELP!" He cried, before another vine grabbed his muzzle and forced it shut.
Suddenly, a light shined in front of the trapped stallion, revealing a golden statue of what looked like a griffon's wing. It glowed a bright green, as if a unicorn was holding it with their magic, before the magic shot directly into Thunderlane's forehead. He should have kept trying to break free, but couldn't bring himself to anymore, he felt oddly calm.
"Thunderlane." The voice said, no longer sounding like Rumble, and sounding much closer to him. A pair of perfect green hooves entered his vision and he tried to look up from his low position. What he saw was amazing. An alicorn stallion with majesty, so much perfection, this alicorn... he was worthy of Thunderlane's complete obedience.
"Thunderlane, can you understand me?" The embodiment of perfection asked.
"Yes, master." Thunderlane said, happily.
"Just... call me Sugar Hoof." The alicorn said with a slight grimace.
"Yes, Sugar Hoof."
"I need you to do something for me, Thunderlane."
"Anything."
"Your old exercise equipment, the stuff you never use anymore..." The alicorn pondered how to word this, "your old exercise equipment is a burden to you, it weighs you down, and makes your life worse."
"Yes, Sugar Hoof." Thunderlane answered without skipping a beat.
"You will load up your exercise equipment into a wagon and haul it over to Honey Bun Farms once you leave this alleyway."
"Yes, Sugar Hoof."
"You are happy and proud of yourself for doing this, it is right and good that you give your old exercise equipment to Honey Bun."
"Yes, Sugar Hoof."
Sugar Hoof was pleased with how well it was working, especially since it was his first try. He was going to ask Thunderlane nicely for his exercise gear, but thought it would be better to test the idol first. Looking into the spiraling green and brown eyes of the pegasus, he disliked the idea of using the idol on Spike more and more. Imagining Spike's eyes spiraling, a mindless smile on his face, Spike deserved better than that.
Just as he ordered, Thunderlane brought over the workout gear, and his mood visually improved after it was in Sugar Hoof's possession. The equipment was placed in the back of his newly built barn, that he built for the dinner party. In this barn, a large and strong rectangular table was standing at the center, with green cushions to act as the seats. There were eight seats in total, and a bit of leeway in the table's design designated for food and center-piece placement. The walls were painted with pretty flowers that held weak enchantments to held someone lean into relaxation and contentment. Pink, yellow, and light blue paper lanterns clouded the ceiling, all lit via magic to make up for the lack of sunlight. As a final touch, six smaller tables were placed around the large table in the center, for holding food.
Sugar wasn't exactly sure how much these ponies could eat, or what was the proper amount of food in regards to a dinner party for eight. He counted enough space for twenty seven platters in total, which he hoped would be enough.
Now let's see... six tables leaves enough room for eighteen platters, since those will require them to get out of their seat, the food placed on here should be less important than what I put on the table they'd be seated at... He thought, planning out the layout of the food. Breads, salads, pastas, hors d'oeuvre, can't forget dessert...oh, shoot. He forgot the drinks. Levitating three large metal cylinders into the room, he carefully summoned liquids to go into them, as well as conjuring the platters of food.
I really should look into this alicorn magic stuff, I certainly couldn't conjure food before, I could grow it, but never 'conjure' it. The consequences of this new-found magic was placed into the back of his mind for now, while the spots on the table were filled. Clean plates and silverware were laid out neatly at the front of each cushion, and the metal cylinders were soon filled with delicious grape juice before he got an idea.
I conjured this food and drink from seemingly nowhere... could I conjure something that isn't even on this planet? He relit his horn and drained one of the vats of it's grape juice before replacing it with a lavender liquid instead. He hesitantly sniffed at the liquid before taking a sip of it. His eyes widened as he realized his spell worked, he brought something foreign into the world. The sweet and delicious juice of the magical purple pear tasted no different in Equestria than it did back home.
"This... this requires proper and thorough testing." Sugar Hoof was excited for this, the rare purple pears were only found in a single island back home, but he just summoned some. What else could he summon? The even more rare life fruit? Death flowers? Yggdrasil fruits? What was possible, what wasn't? He looked down, his excited mood suddenly shifting. "What wasn't possible? Am I even me anymore... who was I before?" He tried to remember his face, but he noted that many of his facial features were simply lacking definition. The human he remembered looked old and was wearing a green robe.
"Every wizard wore their colors, a theurgist wears green for the same reason a thaumaturgist wears light blue." The alicorn in disguise looked around the barn at the party room he had set up.
"Am I still a theurgist? Have I gone beyond my station? Am I even still myself?... I know I'm not human anymore." He sat on the floor and pondered himself.
He levitated a black metal stein over to the purple pear juice and filled it up. Drinking from the stein, he said in a soft voice, "Just how powerful am I? I knew my power only grew by the day since the treants infected the planet's core... I'm only going to get stronger... I don't even know who or what I am anymore." He set the stein on the ground, no longer caring for it. "No, focus on your work, attaining immortality is the only goal worthy of your time." At least I certainly have the magical strength to accomplish that goal, He thought, gaining confidence by burying his fear with work. "Just find the secret to immortality, and the rest is unimportant." He breathed a sigh of relief as he finished his preparation for the party.
The barn was decorated, he had food, seating, and drinks. What else could be needed for a dinner party? He trotted over to one of the glassless windows and peered up at the sky, causing an annoyed expression to grow on his face. It's still so early, he thought before exiting the barn and heading back to his home. Although he buried his fears in his work, he still wondered about his own power level. He was a master of theurgy when he arrived on this planet, but now? His magical strength had only increased thanks to his treants breaking the laws of nature. Unfortunately for himself and the rest of the world, he had no idea how to reverse or halt the corruption of the planet's core. He didn't even know what Poplar and Birch used when they started it, and with Poplar dead and Birch missing, he was at a dead end.
"Nobody will mind if performed some medical exams on myself..." He said as he wandered back to his home, intent on finding out who he was after everything he had been through since arriving in Equestria.
Sweet Apple Acres was abuzz with activity, stallions pushing snow plows went over the snow-covered ground in order to prepare for Spring. Twilight was attempting to work one of the snow plows herself, while Spike and Applejack stood off to the side.
"At this rate, we won't get anything planted in time." Applejack said sadly.
"I know it's tradition, but if the unicorns just used their magic, it could really make things run smoother." Spike suggested.
"We ain't never needed magic, an' we don't need it now." She glared at the dragon. "Not that ah could expect much better out of you."
Spike looked at Applejack incredulously, "Is this still about the grape juice thing?"
"How could anyone prefer grapes to apples? It just 'taint right." She declared.
Spike sighed, "I already told you, I don't prefer grapes to apples, I like both of them, y'know, equally."
"That's a lie, Spike, and you know it." It wasn't a lie.
"What are you two arguing about?" Twilight asked, leaving the snow plow behind once she heard the argument.
"There's only room for one farm in Ponyville, Twilight, mine or his." Applejack said, pointing a hoof in the direction of Honey Bun's farm.
"Are you still upset about that? Both of your farms don't even produce the same things." The book mare reasoned.
"It's the truth, there has only ever been room for one farm in Ponyville." Applejack growled.
APPLEJACK! An elderly voice shouted from a few acres away.
"Ah shoot, what now?" Applejack said as she left Twilight and Spike and headed to her farmhouse.
"Man, she's really worried about Honey's farm, huh?" Spike said, concern on his face.
"I"m sure it's not as bad as it sounds, after tonight, they'll talk, and everything will be fine." Twilight stated, sure of it.
Spike turned and looked at the snow plow, "I'm sorry you couldn't help them clear the snow, Twilight."
Twilight waved a hoof dismissively before walking closer to her assistant, "Oh well, I'll have to find some other way to help out, come on, Spike." The two of them went off in the direction of Fluttershy's Cottage in hopes that the timid pegasus would need Twilight's help to wrap-up winter.
Back at the Sweet Apple Acres Farmhouse, Granny Smith was sitting on the front porch in her rocking chair. Her face had a serenity to it that nobody else in the Apple Family had seen since Honey Bun Farms opened. Ever since Ponyville had a farm not owned by the Apple family, Granny Smith had been worried that her business would falter. Bits were tight around there, everyday it seemed like something was breaking down or falling apart, and they just didn't have the ponies nor bits to keep up with everything. Everything was fine for now, so long as Honey sold only luxury items and stayed out of the apple market. When Applejack approached, she expected to see her grandmother like she had been, nerves shot and mane frazzled, but she looked positively peaceful.
"Granny, ya'll hollered?" Applejack asked quizzically, slightly alarmed at her grandmother's serene state.
"Applejack, dearie, Ah think ah've come up with the solution to this whole," She waved a green hoof in a circle, "Honey Bun situation."
Applejack's eyes brightened, "That's great, what have ya got?"
"Ya'll meetin' this feller tonight, ain'tcha? For that dinner party?" Granny Smith asked with a coy smile.
"We sure are, Ah was plannin' on confrontin' him myself tonight."
"Don't go doin' that now, we don't wanna scare him away." Granny Smith said, throwing Applejack for a loop.
"But he's a threat to the farm." Applejack tried to reason.
"He's also a wonderful farmer." Granny stated matter-of-factly.
"He's a.. how would you know, you ain't never met 'im."
"Don't need to meet 'im, Ah can look at his soil and know that he knows what he's doing. All it takes is lookin' at his soil, Whatever it is that he does to it, really makes a difference."
"Then shouldn't we be tryin' extra hard to scare him off? He might be a bigger problem than the Pears."
Granny Smith's voice hitched in her throat as a tear formed in her eye, but she quickly choked it back and said, "No, he's already gone through all the trouble of fixing up and maintaining the land his farm is on, we don't need to scare him, we need to add him to the family."
"Granny, ya'll can't be serious." Applejack said with her annoyance clear in her voice.
"Ah am serious, he's too good of a farmer to let go. Why, if we could learn how he tends the soil, we'd be producin' ten times the amount o' apples we are now."
"Ya'll want me to chase after 'im? I ain't never even met him, and I certainly don' much like 'im." Applejack said with a stomp.
"This is how the Apple Family has always done it, why do you think no other farm settles in places where we are? We charm 'im, and add them to the family." Granny Smith said with equal levels of anger. "He lives by himself, works by himself, and never goes into town, whenever he does leave, anyone who actually sees it, mainly pegasi, say he slinks off like a hurt puppy, he'll fall head over hoof, easy."
"What if'n he likes stallions?" Applejack reasoned, looking for anything she could use to avoid having to go out with Honey Bun.
"If'n he's a coltcuddler, I'll send a letter to your cousin, Braeburn. Either way, we need to know what he's doin there, and Ah doubt he's gonna give up his secrets willingly."
Big Macintosh watched his sister and grandmother argue, thankful that he didn't have to go out with anybody.
5364...
5365...
5366...
5367...
Sugar Hoof was sitting on the rocky floor of his basement laboratory, watching the number slowly rise in intervals.
5368, read the scroll. He had cast a few medical spells on himself to see if he could gauge his current power level. Before he came to Equestria, he was a powerful 130, and was considered one of the top theurgists in the world, with a power level 5369, he'd likely be able to hold his own against his old headmaster.
The disguised alicorn stared at the parchment in disbelief, every second that passed, he grew stronger. "That... that can't be good." He whispered to himself as he rose to his hooves and paced around the room.
More than likely, this is because the treants started corrupting the planet's core. If that is the case, once it's entirely changed, my power level will stagnate. Sugar made the motion of stroking his beard by habit before he remembered that he no longer had a beard.
Goodness, they could've just destroyed the planet from doing that, and who even knows what the earth's core corrupting is doing to any creature who relied on pyromanc... Spike. His eyes widened in concern.
A large source of fire magic is being slowly corrupted into life magic, any dragon on this planet would likely get a major loss of power in their fire breath! He shuddered at the thought. I may be responsible for Spike's fire breath eventually faltering! Every dragon will suffer because of me! He held his head in thought.
He began shivering before he forced his back to straighten and he began taking deep breaths to steady his nerves. Alright... alright, I'm certain I can devise a solution for ensuring Spike's fire breath remains. He slowly grew calmer. And the other dragons, who cares, they simply won't be able to use their fire breath and will probably lose some of their resistance to fire. He stopped shivering as he pushed his emotions back and focused on making sure the one dragon he knew and cared about was okay.
"Right, a source of fire magic that can be ingested would be the best case scenario." Sugar Hoof said to himself as he walked over to his alchemy table and procured some lava cream and rubies. Despite his attempts to push his emotions aside, he couldn't stop the image of baby dragons asking their parents why they couldn't breathe fire anymore. He grimaced at himself before he slammed his head into the rock wall, in order to focus himself.
"They don't matter. They aren't you, they aren't Spike, they don't matter." He said to himself as he clutched the rocks on the wall, anger clear on his face as images of not only dragons, but the innocent citizens of the storm kingdom, the ponies of Appleloosa, even those griffon bandits, passed through his mind. Their cries, their fear, their pain all came back to him. Sugar Hoof seethed as he stared at them, repeating the phrase, "They don't matter. They don't matter. They don't matter."
Eventually, no new images plagued his mind, and tranquility returned to his cottage. He took in a deep breath and smiled, "Perhaps I will use the Idol of Boreas on Spike after all. If Pyromancy is about to receive a major debuff, perhaps I should work on converting Spike from a pyromancer into a theurgist." His smile grew, he liked the idea as he reached into the case where the Idol was kept.
"Spike the Theurgist Dragon, heh, I like it." He was pleased with himself so much, that he didn't even remember that dragons are predisposed to fire due to being one of the first magic casters in the known universe, and that if he removed the pyromancy from Spike, he would be hindering his dragon aspects.
"I'll see about getting him over here every night, Birch mentioned that if one was to eat my magic, they would began changing mentally and physically, I just need to make sure the magic begins replacing his inherent pyromancy with theurgy." He rushed to put the lava cream and rubies back, and instead got some emeralds out of a chest in the corner.
"A few of these, heavily enchanted, he'll be just fine." He knew he could easily hinder the magic's effects on his mind, and the mutations would be easily cured.
Winter Wrap-Up had ended much smoother than it had in recent years thanks to Twilight's organizational skills, the town was so thankful to her, that they gave her a special vest that shared the colors of all the teams. After a day of hard work, the six mares and the drake walked over to Honey Bun Farms.
"That sure was some quick thinking, Twilight!" Pinkie said, bouncing around the purple mare with glee.
"Yeah, without you, we'd still be working." said Rainbow Dash, thankful that they had finished on time.
"Really girls, It was no problem." Twilight stated with a modest smile.
Suddenly, a gurgling noise came from Rainbow Dash's stomach. "Sure hope Honey Bun's food is as good as Spike says it is." Another gurgling sound, "And that he made a lot."
"If I know anything for sure about Honey Bun, it's that he makes way too much food." Spike said smugly.
Applejack was at the front of the group, walking a bit faster than the rest of the girls and still thinking about what Granny Smith had told her earlier. Don't scare 'im, charm 'im. Applejack wasn't looking forward to it, she wasn't even into stallions, not that she'd ever told anybody. She loved her family however, and would do whatever was best for their sake. She hoped Honey Bun was gay too, Braeburn could use a farm pony in his life, and not another pegasus show-boat.
As the group drew closer to the farm, they noticed how the farmhouse's lights were all off, but the lights in one of the barns were very bright. Though they could not think about it all too much, the smell of food that was wafting from that barn was too heavenly to resist.
The group had all settled into their seats and dug in quickly. Steins were emptied many times and immediately refilled, seemingly by magic, and whenever one of their platters got low, the pony behind the plate would blink and find it refilled again. Sugar Hoof's enchantments had worked like a charm, they were all too content and relaxed to notice all the blatant impossibilities that were going on around them, and as soon as they started eating, they weren't going to be finding out anything anytime soon. Sugar sat at the front of the table, with Spike on his left, Applejack on his right , and watched the elements.
Rarity had overdressed for the occasion, her beautiful and formal dress was getting a few crumbs on it due to her eating so fast, despite her attempting to keep up appearances by eating formally. Pinkie Pie ate as fast as the magic could replace her food, and soon had the food just refilling into her mouth. Even Applejack, who had come into the barn with a chip on her shoulder, was soon eating the food with a smile. Rainbow Dash was soon eating five fritters at a time before downing a stein or two of cider.
"So how is it, everypony?" Honey Bun asked as he watched everyone.
Grunts of agreement and thanks resounded from the room and Honey started teleporting enchanted emeralds onto Spike's plate. As soon as Spike saw them, a noise that could be described as joyful escaped his draconic lips and he began scarfing the emeralds down. Flecks of drool soon splattered onto the ground from his overzealous eating, and Sugar was thankful that nobody noticed.
The night carried on for half an hour, before everybody stopped eating. The mares gave thanks to Honey for his incredible cooking and talking took the place of eating. A hoof was soon placed in front of Honey and Applejack finally spoke.
Ya'll live by yerself out here, right?" She asked Honey, no longer feeling as angry as she had now that she's actually tasted his cooking.
"Yep, just me, the cows, and the chickens." Honey said with a smile.
Applejack usually would've been more tact, but the runes on the walls and floor had done a good job of making her loosen up, "Plannin' on getting yerself a wife or husband any time soon?"
Honey's eyes widened, and Applejack was sure she could see a bit of green flash in them, but wasn't too concerned about it. "I really hadn't thought about it much." Honey said, truthfully.
Honey had never had a partner, let alone a friend, his magic studies always took priority. Sure there had been some people he was interested in that he met during his many travels, but he never sought them out or anything.
"Pardon me for askin', but do ya'll prefer stallions or mare?" The apple mare said.
"Have I garnered your affections already?" Honey asked jokingly.
Applejack snorted and laughed, she knew he was a good cook, but didn't think it was worth going out with him just for a few amazing meals. "Nah, mah cousin Braeburn mentioned he was interested in ya, that'a all."
"Braeburn," Sugar whispered to himself, he remembered Braeburn, the nice stallion in Appleloosa, that his shadow treants had killed. "Oh, how is Braeburn by the way? I heard about them shadow treants that attacked Appleloosa a while back."
The others looked a bit sad as they remembered the troubles that Sugar Hoof had put them through, Spike felt bad for his friends, but Pinkie Pie's reactions is what truly put Honey off. The rest of them looked away, a hint of sadness in their eyes, Pinkie Pie put her ears down and stared directly at him instead. There was still sadness in her eyes, but it was directed right at him.
"Whatever crazy everfree magic he'd done to the town that brought everypony back to life, certainly improved everypony's outlook on life, that's for sure." Applejack said, remembering the last time she saw her cousin.
"Princess Celestia mentioned it had something to do with the harmony magic he stole." Twilight explained.
"Right... everything worked out okay in the end though, right?" Honey said, hoping to gauge their opinion on him.
"It definitely ended, everything ended. We thought he was revealing his true colors when he threatened to take over Equestria, but as we thought more about it, I think he just went a bit crazy." Twilight reasoned, to which many of her friends agreed.
"Went crazy, how so?" Honey asked with fake concern. Cursed mare, my acting was flawless!
"He started acting like he was somepony else before some... thing he made went haywire, it roasted him alive in front of us before it brought his entire underground cavern down on him. Then that mushroom cloud, everything went back to normal, it was kind've hectic."
"Yes, I was in Griffonstone when the Green Desert Incident happened, I was relieved to know that that monster was no more." Honey said with a hoof stomp.
"I don't think he was a monster, I think he was just lost." Twilight said, clearly upset.
"Lost, how could he be lost, he was in his own cavern." Sugar asked, I was never lost, I always knew the next step forward.
"Not lost underground, lost in himself. Despite having all those trees at his command, was he alone? The guard that Princess Celestia assigned to watch over him said that they rarely ever 'did' anything together. More often than not, Sugar just ordered his soldiers to treat Gilded Spear like royalty." Twilight said, looking over to each of her friends.
"Honey Bun." Pinkie said, giving puppy dog eyes to the stallion in question. "What do you think, was Sugar Hoof alone down there?"
He would not speak, he just kept his gaze on Pinkie's face, acting like he wasn't upset, acting like he didn't care, acting like his plan wasn't put into jeopardy. She knows.