//------------------------------// // Revised Chapter 4: Accepting Help // Story: The Keepers of The Balance // by Steven1992 //------------------------------// Twilight’s sitting on a pillow staring at an open book on a short study table. Spike comes out of the kitchen holding a fresh cup of tea and places it on the table. Out of habit, Twilight levitated the cup to her lips and sipped, swallowing a bit of the tea. She places the cup back down as she sighs. “I can’t find anything, Spike. I read through this chapter and other books about potential or hidden power and there’s absolutely nothing about unlocking it.” Twilight said with slight annoyance. Spike shook his head. He was used to this. “Sarius did say he couldn’t unlock it himself and stated that only you could do it. But I highly doubt this is what he meant.” “Well how else am I supposed to do it, if I can’t use my own magic to unlock it?” Twilight inquired, turning to Spike. Spike shrugged. “Let it happen naturally?” “And what if it doesn’t happen naturally?” Twilight asked back. Spike rolled his eyes. “Twilight, you of all ponies knows what will happen if magic is used on something that is meant to be acquired naturally. You even told Apple Bloom that.” “But that was about Cutie Marks, this is different.” Twilight argued. “As far as I see, it’s not that different.” Spike responded. Before Twilight could retort a knock came from the door. Both Twilight and Spike raised an eyebrow at the sudden intrusion. They weren’t expecting anypony else today. Twilight walked to the door and opened it to see Rarity standing there, trying to straighten her mane which did seem off. Rarity realized Twilight had opened the door and laughed nervously. “Hello darling. I apologize for the sudden visit but I’m afraid I need a bit of help.” Rarity said. “With your mane? I would think you have better experience with mane care than me.” Twilight pointed out. “Oh goodness no. It’s not my mane I need help with.” “Then what?” “My magic, darling. Sarius unlocked my potential and I gained the power of, and quoting him here, ‘A Black Mage’.” Twilight’s eyes widened. “A Black Mage?! No, don’t tell me-” “No, I'm not evil. Sarius reassured me of that.” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “Then what does it mean and how can I help?” “He told me I can use my magic to create and control the elements.” “But there are already spells that can do that.” Twilight pointed out. “I’m aware. Sarius believes there’s a difference. Instead of using our magic to cast an element spell, we’re or rather I am using my magic to create and control the elements.” “So you’re skipping a step basically?” Twilight inquired. “Yes, exactly. Although that’s where I need your help. You remember me telling you I’m not very good at magic?” “Yes.” “Well, unfortunately my lack of experience is rearing its ugly head. I may be able to do basic spells but this is far more advanced than what I’m used to.” “Come on in then and-” ”Look out!!” Both Twilight and Rarity looked to see Rainbow Dash flying straight at them with seemingly no control. They ducked and Rainbow flew over their heads and into the library. With quick reflexes, Twilight used her magic to stop Rainbow from hitting the wall. “Thanks,” Rainbow said. Twilight let go of Rainbow and the blue pegasus automatically hovered in the air. “I was trying out my new power but I started going too fast and lost control. For some reason I couldn’t stop myself.” “You want some help too, Rainbow?” Twilight asked, a bit gunhoe. Rainbow looked at Twilight and blinked. “Uh. Not really. Sarius told me I just needed practice and that’s what I was doing. Like I said, I lost control and the only thing I could do was change direction, so I naturally came to you. I knew you could stop me before I became a pancake.” Rainbow explained. Rainbow then noticed Rarity. “Oh hey Rarity. I didn’t see you.” Rarity stood up, still trying to straighten her mane. “Yes, hello Rainbow Dash.” Rarity said mildly annoyed. Rainbow chuckled. “Sorry I almost flew into you two.” Rainbow apologized knowing Rarity was a bit upset about the pegasus nearly crashing into them. Rarity gave a small smile. “Well at least you gave us a warning so, apology accepted.” Twilight cleared her throat. “Anyway come on in, Rarity.” Twilight stepped aside, allowing Rarity to enter. Rarity walked in, now trying to fix up her mane with her magic, trying her best not to set it on fire or cover it with ice. Twilight was about to shut the door when she heard a soft rumble, followed by a; “Consarn it!”. Twilight looked back outside and saw Applejack was walking toward the library, but she stopped at a small dirt pile. Pinkie Pie was bouncing alongside Applejack. “Everytime Ah think Ah got it under control, another one pops up.” Applejack ranted. Pinkie Pie giggled. “You’re doing fine, Applejack.” Applejack softly stomped a hoof and the dirt pile was gone, which surprised Twilight. Applejack turned to Pinkie. “It may seem like it, but Ah ain’t doing fine. The fact it stills happens from time to time shows Ah need to be more careful.” “What’s wrong, Applejack?” Twilight asked from the door and got the two mares' attention. “Oh hi Twilight.” Pinkie gleefully announced. “Nothing that Ah can’t handle, Twi. Ah still need some practice on focusing or what not.” Applejack answered. “Okay, well come on in you two. Everypony is here except for Fluttershy.” AJ tipped her hat and walked in while Pinkie bounced in, making sure not to bump her head against the door frame. Rainbow was still hovering in place but it was obvious she was getting a bit antsy, completely natural for her. Rarity sat on a couch as Spike brought her some tea which she happily took, even complimenting him on his manners and how well it was made. Spike naturally blushed at the compliment from Rarity. Applejack sat on the floor next to the couch Rarity was sitting on and Pinkie was bouncing away. Twilight cleared her throat, getting the attention of everypony in the room. Pinkie even stopped bouncing. “Okay. We’re missing Fluttershy but that’s fine. Rarity you came here so I can help you with your magic. Did the rest of you come here to visit me and Spike?” Pinkie giggled. “Do we need a reason to visit a friend?” Twilight shook her head with a smile. “Of course not. I’m just making sure you girls don't need my help as well. So you all got your potential unlocked by Sarius?” Everypony but Spike and Twilight nodded. “What about you Sugar Cube?” Applejack asked. Twilight sighed. “He said I have potential and it’s strong but he couldn’t unlock it. All he told me was it seemed like I had to unlock it myself.” “And I’m sure you will, darling. You are the Element of Magic after all.” Rarity said. “So what kind of potential did you girls have?” Twilight asked. “I’m able to control the wind. It didn’t sound that cool to be honest, but Sarius suggested I use this power to make myself faster. I definitely liked that idea.” Rainbow answered. “Of course ya did.” Applejack retorted. Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Ah got the power to control the dirt. Or as Sarius put it; Earth maniwhatsit.” “Manipulation?” Twilight suggested. “Yeah, that. He said Ah could control dirt, stone, metal, and even convert one to another if Ah practiced enough.” Applejack explained. “Sarius told me I can find things that are out of place and don’t belong.” Pinkie stated. “Is that it?” Twilight asked, not really convinced that’s all Pinkie’s potential was. “Nope. He told me the specifics. The things that I can find are things that don’t belong or originate in our world, and it can be a variety of things like but not limited to; objects and ponies. He told me I would know when I sensed something. I figure it will be a Pinkie Sense.” “And Rarity learned how to use elemental magic that Sarius refers to as Black magic.” Everypony but Rarity, Spike, and Twilight gasped. “It’s not evil magic, don’t worry. I’ll be helping Rarity with her magic so everypony else can relax.” Twilight walked over to Rarity and began tutoring her in using her unicorn magic, while Rainbow finally lands and starts a conversation with Pinkie. Applejack remains quiet as she focuses on controlling her power. Spike brings everypony a cup of tea. It would be very difficult to tell how much time had passed since I’ve been on this mountain pondering, but thankfully I had a natural internal clock. I’ve been here for half an hour so far. 30 minutes and nothing’s come to my mind as far as getting the truth out of Kasulis. Not to say I didn’t have ideas, it’s that none of them were reliable since I know words can be only words. Empty and be easily taken at face value or even just words you want to hear. The only thing I would be able to rely on is; feelings, but since we were separate I couldn’t feel what he feels, despite us being two halves of a single soul. Naturally there aren’t any methods, if not at all, that can allow feelings to be read or felt. Which meant I would have to improvise. Then I heard hoofsteps approaching me, so I turned to see who it was and to my surprise, it was Fluttershy. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you, Sarius.” She spoke softly. I gave her a smile. “It’s fine. I was done thinking anyway.” The smile faded to normal. “How did you find me?” Fluttershy walked closer to me. “Well… I felt your presence and I flew over. I don’t know why I suddenly had the urge to come see you again. Especially since it’s only been a short while since we saw each other.” My eyebrows rose in slight surprise. “You’ve already figured out how to find me by Energy Sense? Amazing.” Fluttershy blinked. “Energy Sense? Is that a good thing?” “Yes and yes. Energy Sense allows you to track energy signals from things that radiate energy of any kind. If something doesn’t emit energy or small amounts of it, it’ll be hard to find. You might even be able to sense things that radiate magic since magic does use energy, but more importantly I can tell your world relies on magic mostly. So magic would be like energy in my world.” I explained. Fluttershy was amazed by this. “Oh my. That does sound good. I never thought I would be capable of what you say.” “I don’t blame you for thinking that. This power is very unique and dangerous if it isn’t controlled properly, plus it’s something only dragons are naturally born with. My siblings and I are an exception since we gained dragon DNA. My other two friends are special cases as well since they didn’t receive dragon DNA.” “Oh. What kind of DNA do they have instead?” Fluttershy inquired with apt curiosity. “One has Phoenix DNA and the other lion DNA but the lion DNA is quite different.” I answered. Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’re friends with a Phoenix?” I raised an eyebrow. “In a way, yes. She’s like me and my siblings though, she was born human and received Phoenix DNA. So in a sense, she’s half Phoenix.” Fluttershy’s expression softened. “Oh. So what about your other friend, what’s so different about their DNA?” “Well, it’s the DNA of a female lion but it’s very different from usual. My guess is it’s the DNA of a female Nemean Lion, which I don’t know is possible.” Fluttershy blinked. “Nemean…Lion?” “It’s a creature from my world’s mythology. It’s a lion that’s bigger, stronger, and tougher. It’s mane and skin is said to be able to repel any and all attacks. Of course in the mythology, whenever the Nemean Lion was mentioned, it was considered male. As far as I know there isn’t a Nemean Lioness.” Fluttershy’s eyes lit up a bit. “Oh my. That sounds like a very interesting creature all right.” “You say that now, but in my world creatures aren’t as kind or tolerant.” I warn, causing Fluttershy to look at me with worry. “It’s okay. I’m just saying to exercise caution with creatures.” “Oh okay. I was heading over to see Twilight before I had the desire to find you, did you… want to come with me?” Fluttershy asked with a slight blush. I smiled. “Sure. I got nothing better to do plus I did say I would tell my story to all of you.” Fluttershy smiled back. “Yay.” I stood up and stretched a bit. I look back over at Fluttershy, who was now next to me. I carefully unfolded my wings and so did she, I leapt off the mountain and began flipping my wings. Fluttershy followed suit and we started flying towards the library. After flying for several minutes, Fluttershy and I landed outside the library tree then we walked to the door. I heard faint voices when I knocked softly, then the voices went silent but were followed by faint hoofsteps on wood moving toward the door. The door opened showing the rest of the Mane Six plus Spike already inside relaxing, Twilight was the one who opened the door. “Oh. Sarius, Fluttershy. I knew you two would come by. Come on in.” Twilight smiled. Fluttershy and I walked in then took a seat. Rarity looked like she was in the middle of casting a spell since her horn was lit up. Applejack was seated next to a table, Rainbow was hovering, and Pinkie was looking at the books on the shelves, for some reason. Twilight closed the door. Rarity spoke up first. “I’m so glad you could join us for our sudden get-together, Sarius.” I smile. “I was actually planning on bringing you six together very recently. I told Fluttershy I would share my story with all of you.” This declaration caught the attention of everypony. Twilight beamed. “Oh, that’s so good to hear. I can’t wait to hear it.” “I’ll say. I’m mighty curious to know what crazy tales you have to talk about” Applejack concurred. “As are we.” A regal voice called out from the second floor. All eyes directed at the source of the voice and to our surprise, it was Celestia and Luna. The Mane Six as well as Spike quickly jumped up to their hooves and bowed on instinct. Celestia lightly giggled and waved a hoof. “Now, now, there’s no need for that. This is a casual visit, since as my sister stated, we want to know about Sarius’ story as well. His uncle only told us what we needed to know before meeting him.” “Indeed. So don’t mind us.” Luna added, as she and Celestia walked down the stairs to sit on the floor, waiting to listen. Almost in response to a habit supposedly, Twilight tried to make them comfortable through different means, to which Celestia kindly rejected. “Twilight, no one likes a brown-noser.” I joked. Celestia giggled at that, Luna tried to hide a small smile, while Twilight was slightly confused. “Brown-noser? What is that supposed to mean?” Twilight inquired. “It means you have a literal brown nose from always sticking it up people’s-” “I know what the term means.” Twilight interrupted me. “I mean why are you thinking I’m being a brown-noser?” “Because you’re trying to overextend and trying to offer the princesses comfort when they’re already comfortable. If Celestia or Luna required some comfort they would ask, I assure you. If anything you’re making them uncomfortable by constantly trying to help.” “W-what?!” Twilight asked, shocked. She turned to the princesses hoping they had different opinions. “Is he right about that, princesses?” Celestia reached up and patted Twilight on the head. I was surprised that Celestia's legs were that long. “Yes, unfortunately. I was trying to be polite to you, my student, but it seems Sarius understands that sometimes, you have to be blunt. I am sorry that it had to be conveyed that way.” Twilight walked over to the table with a sigh. “No. It… makes sense. Go ahead and tell us your story, Sarius.” She then sat down. “I will but first I should catch you all up to speed on how my power works. I already explained most of it to Fluttershy, so it’s only fair you all should hear it too. This will take a while so I’ll need something to drink.” Spike walked over to me and handed me a fresh cup of tea. “Oh thanks, Spike.” “No problem, sir.” Spike gleefully responded. I was lifting the cup to my mouth but stopped when I heard ‘sir’. “No need for formalities Spike. I may also be a dragon, as well as possibly being older than you, but you don’t need to call me sir. Just call me by my name.” “Oh alright, Sarius.” Spike replied. “And why do you not want to be called sir, Sir Sarius?” Luna asked. I turned to look her in the eyes. For some reason when I looked in her cyan eyes, my face felt a bit hotter. I knew I was slightly blushing but didn’t understand why. In fact, just looking at her made me feel warmer. Not the heat kind of warm, but the fuzzy kind of warm. When I saw her mouth move but didn’t hear her words, I realized I was in a daze and blinked to snap out of it. “What did you say?” I asked. Luna’s head tilted in slight concern. “I asked if there was something wrong with me.” “No no. I just… got lost in a daze. Anyway, I don’t want to be called sir because I want others I know well enough to not be formal with me.” I answer. Luna smiled. “Very well, but I will still refer to you as Sir Sarius, for my own reasons.” Celestia gave Luna a knowing look. I ignore the look Celestia’s giving Luna. “Alright if you really want to. Now-” I finally take a sip of the tea. It felt warm and nice going down my throat. “-about my power. Firstly, I believe I mentioned to all of you that it's the control of Energtris, and Energtris is the source and origin of all energy in Reality. No matter what form it takes. Next-” I then spend the next hour explaining to the group everything I already told Fluttershy while also taking occasional sips of the tea, just to catch them up to speed. “-And that’s everything I told Fluttershy so far.” Everypony, aside from Fluttershy, Celestia, and Luna were wide-eyed in shock and amazement, while the Princesses were more curious and very intrigued. “So that’s how it works.” Luna asked. I nodded. “May I ask a question, Sir Sarius?” “You technically did, but sure.” I joked. Luna deadpanned at me while Celestia giggled. “Can you use your energy to replicate any source of energy?” Luna inquired. “Yes, but I can’t regenerate the energy I convert Energtris to. Otherwise I would have a lot of unusable energy.” “And what about magic, can you replicate magic with your energy?” Luna inquired further. “Not really. Magic is its own thing and entirely separate from energy. Energy may be needed for some magic but magic has its own source of power.” “Then explain why one of your Crystals allows you to use magic.” Luna suggested. “Oh. Well, the Crystals are far older than me so I wouldn’t know everything, but I suspect all the Crystals were enchanted to allow the use of elements and magic. I believe this is the case because the gold Crystal doesn’t give an element but more energy and power instead. So that leads me to believe the enchantments slightly weaken the overall power of the Crystals.” “And what of the Master Crystal? You said half of the power you can get from Crystals comes from it.” Luna pointed out. “That’s simple. The 10 other Crystals are connected to the Master Crystal and the Master Crystal has what I like to call; ‘Admin Rights’ over the other 10. It has access to the other 10 as well as being able to control them, but the 10 have no influence over the Master Crystal. Not alone anyway. Since the Master Crystal has Admin Rights, it can make use of the enchantment functions of the other 9 without losing power.” I purse my lips. “But again the Crystals have existed for a long, long time. So I may be wrong in all this. When I asked Asgorath about it, he told me the same thing. Only difference is he discovered the Crystals then had someone enchant them. He couldn’t tell me how it worked, if at all, because he never asked nor needed to know. Just as long as it worked as intended.” “Ah. Very well.” Luna said, somewhat satisfied with the answer. “Now my life story.” Everypony started to listen closely. “To start off, I was born a human. A race I’m certain none of you are aware of, since they don’t exist in Equestria it seems.” Luna and Celestia seemed like they knew something but I decided not to ask. “I was also born on a planet called Earth. Earth is in a different universe or dimension so I highly doubt Earth would exist in this universe. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. A lot of universes have their own version of Earth, and something tells me this planet is by all means, this universe’s Earth. But that’s a different discussion.” I catch my breath. “Anyway, for 12 years I lived as a normal regular person. Then one day, an event occurred that changed my life drastically.” “What kind of event?” Fluttershy asked. “And how drastic did your life change?” Twilight added. “The simplest answer to you Twilight is right in front of you.” I stated. Twilight blinked. “You mean your dragon form?” “Yes. As I said, I was born completely human. Now for Fluttershy’s question… I’m afraid the answer isn’t pretty. But before I talk about that, I will mention I have siblings. A brother and a sister. While we were growing up my brother separated from us and eventually disappeared.” “What happened to him?” Twilight asked. “He began training with someone who wasn’t very pleasant in order to achieve one goal, at the time.” “And what was that?” Rainbow asked. I knew for a fact they wouldn’t be okay with the answer but they should know about me and my family. “To kill me.” The room fell silent and I could tell everypony present had their eyes opened wide from shock. “But obviously, he didn’t achieve it since I’m still here. Although he came really close.” “Sarius.” I heard Celestia say, in a surprisingly, serious tone. “Should we consider your brother… an enemy?” She asked reluctantly. I gave a reassuring smile. “Of course not. Believe it or not but when he had the perfect chance to do it, he didn’t take it and stopped just a few inches short. The weapon he was gonna use was mere inches from my chest. And the reason is simple, he realized what he was doing was wrong as well as something he didn’t truly want. In the end, we’re brothers. Family, and family don’t do bad things to each other without reason.” I look at Celestia and Luna. “Am I right?” They looked at each other with a hint of sadness, obviously there was a bit of bad history between. But they both smiled at me. “Yes, you are correct.” Celestia answered. “Indeed. Despite turning into Nightmare Moon and nearly conquering Equestria by overthrowing my sister, she forgave me in the end. And I’m very glad she did.” Luna added. “It broke my heart I had to send you to the moon to stop you.” Celestia mentioned with a tear forming in her eye. “Seems like it all worked out in the end to me.” I said. “It did, and it was thanks to the Element bearers.” Luna stated. “Oh please, Princess Luna. We only did what needed to be done.” Twilight said. “Being humble is a very good quality to have for a hero, Twilight.” I said. “Humble? I’m not being humble… am I?” Twilight asked, confused. Celestia and Luna giggled. “Yes you are, my faithful student.” Celestia answered. “It seems Sarius has some good wisdom.” She added. “Yeah. I had to learn to be a better me and I’m still learning.” I said. “Now I hate to bring the mood down but I should continue with my story.” “Very well, go ahead, Sir Sarius.” Luna said with a nod. “The event that changed my life was my death.” Silence filled the room again. “But again I obviously didn’t since I’m still here right? I’m afraid not.” I take a moment to compose myself. “Truth be told, I did die. I… lost conscience but it wasn’t like being knocked out or sleeping. It’s hard to describe but I was dead for a few minutes. Only barely hanging on due to a sheer will and desire to save my sister.” “Save your sister… What happened to her?” Fluttershy asked. “Well. Earlier that same day, the home my family and I were living in was attacked. They knocked me aside and knocked out my mother then took my sister. In a rage, I chased after them. Not too long after I left home, it exploded.” Everypony gasped. “Did your mother…” Applejack started to ask. “D-d-die?” Rainbow finished. I didn’t reassure them with a smile, instead they only saw sadness on my face. “Not… at the time.” Silence again. “I didn’t discover that she survived until later but I grew more angry at the assumption of her death. Once I caught up to the group, one man was left behind while the others left. Still in a rage, I charged him only to get shot in the chest.” “Shot? With magic?” Twilight asked. “No. I’m not sure if you have any in Equestria, but I was shot with a gun.” “Gun? What is that? Sounds a lot like gum, I have some. Anypony want any?” Pinkie spoke up. “Oh I assure you, guns are vastly different from gum. Normally, when shot by a gun, it’ll pass through your body. But the bullet stopped at my heart and the bullet was instead an injector that injected a slow acting venom into my heart.” “A venom?” Celestia asked. “Yes. Whenever I run out of energy, the venom starts running through my veins. My energy is the only thing keeping it at bay. I can also choose to let it go if I want but I would only do that under one strict condition; when I need to stop holding back. Anyway, the rest of that day was blurry but I remember I was rushed to a hospital. The doctors couldn’t save me, then a scientist came in and took me to a facility. He and a few others worked quickly on a serum to save me, I died for a few minutes then they injected me with the serum. When I woke up, I was in a room feeling way more energized than usual. The scientist that dragged me from the hospital was there. I learned his name… is Raynin.” I look at Fluttershy, knowing she’ll recognize the name. Fluttershy’s eyes widened a bit. “The same Raynin that made that poor manticore violent?” She asked. “One and the same I’m afraid.” I answer. “Hold up. Did I miss something here? Did a manticore attack Fluttershy?” Rainbow asked. “Yes. The poor thing was acting strange and I thought I could help it.” Fluttershy said. “And it attacked you? The manticore we encountered didn’t, even it should have.” Rainbow mentioned. “This was different. It wasn’t… acting normal. In fact it was far more aggressive. I would have been seriously hurt if Sarius didn’t stop the manticore.” Fluttershy looked at me with a smile and a blush. “I am very grateful for that.” “As am I darling. When Sarius mentioned it, I freaked out and assumed the worst. But he reassured me you were alright.” Rarity said. “Wait, you knew?” Rainbow asked. “Well yes. Sarius told me.” Rarity said. “Sorry girls. I didn’t think it was important to tell everypony. I’ll make sure to do it next time.” I said, feeling slightly guilty. “No, it’s okay darling. While it is important to mention such dire events, sometimes it’s best not to tell everypony. After all, I doubt anypony will want to deal with multiple freakouts like the one I had.” Rarity reassured. “You got a point.” I said. “Anyway, Raynin told me he was a scientist working on a serum specifically for me and my siblings. Said he was tasked by our father to do so, I still don’t believe it to this day.” “Why’s that?” Twilight asked. “My father wasn’t always around because he was busy at work, so he isn’t my favorite person. He was a scientist too.” I answered. “Was?” Twilight asked. “He’s dead now.” I answered flatly. Silence filled the room again but nobody was horrified. “How did he die?” Luna decided to ask. “Killed… or rather put down. By me and my siblings.” That made everybody gasp and stare at me in horror. “We had to. When my siblings and I ran into him after so long, he… wasn’t himself anymore. Because he was a scientist, he experimented with serums. He even made one for himself exclusively so he can get a bit of DNA from Asgorath.” “By force?” Celestia asked. I shook my head. “No. My father was a bad father but he wasn’t dumb. He knew for a fact you can’t just force a Deity into complying. You have to prove yourself worthy and that’s what my father did. He made himself stronger so he would be able to prove himself to Asgorath. But it wasn’t his strength or intelligence that proved his worth, but his desire and devotion to his children. Turns out my father sought out Asgorath for the sole purpose of bestowing his power to us so we’ll be able to do good. The two ended up making a deal; Asgorath will provide a single scale, and my father would guide us to Asgorath so he could personally train us.” I paused. “Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way. According to my aunt, who was watching him because of her own suspicions, after he gave the scale to Raynin, he went to my old home and found it destroyed. Then he spent a year wandering around looking for us, but the serum he used on himself decided to… give him a nasty delayed side effect.” “What kind of side effect?” Twilight inquired. “The kind that corrupts you, starting with your mind and it wasn’t a fast corruption. It took years before he ended up in the condition my siblings and I found him in. By then, he no longer resembled the man we once knew. His mind was almost completely gone, his physical appearance was horrific and certainly no longer human, to top it off he lost any semblance of control. For all intents and purposes; he was a mindless monster that ended up as such due to a side effect he could never have predicted. He was strong too, it took quite a bit of effort on our part to put him down. In the end with his dying breath, he thanked us for putting him out of his misery. He also told us how proud he was of how we ended up.” I paused for a minute. “Of course like my aunt, I have my doubts. But I won’t ignore his intentions.” “So what happened after receiving the serum?” Fluttershy asked. “I was told who captured my sister and that her location was unknown. But Raynin assured me he would find her so I can save her, it would just take time. So for 4 years straight I trained, only stopping to eat, drink, and sleep. Before that, I had to make a visit to Asgorath so I could learn how to control my power. After 4 years passed, Raynin finally located my sister then I went and rescued her. Not too long after that, my brother came back and we fought which nearly resulted in my death. He ran off afterwards and laid low for a while before coming back to my sister and I. And my sister decided that after seeing our brother nearly kill me as well as the fact she was held captive for 4 years, she would accept the exact same serum I received. Then my sister and I found out that Tirean received the same serum as well. We didn’t know at the time, but Raynin gave all three of us the serum… exactly what father dearest wanted. The main problem with that was my brother underwent assainnation training just to kill me.” Silence once again filled the room. “Your brother is an assassin?” Applejack asked. “Yes and no. He trained to be one but he didn’t take any lives other than his targets. After coming back, he decided to put that profession to rest then we retrained ourselves.” “Are you and your siblings the only ones?” Fluttershy asked. “Only what?” Rarity asked in confusion. “Hybrids, Rarity. And no, we weren’t the only ones. I had my own set of friends I made through my life. Each one had a problem that lessened their overall capability. One had cancer. They accepted the serum, but it was different from the ones my siblings and I got. The most important difference was it didn’t have Asgorath’s DNA in it. So they ended up becoming sort of regular Hybrids, but no less stronger. And miraculously, the serum cured them all.” I catch my breath. “Also there were two additional Hybrids we weren’t aware of until later. One is my lover.”  Everybody was shocked. If I didn’t know any better, I would swear both Fluttershy and Luna were heavily disappointed and mildly sad at that. “Can you tell us about them?” Twilight asked. “I guess I can since I mentioned them. Their names are Scáth Kalen and Kalia Rundance. I told Fluttershy a bit about them already.” I looked at Fluttershy and she blinked in slight confusion. “Scáth is the one with the Lion DNA and Kalia has the Phoenix DNA.” Fluttershy’s face brightened at the realization. “Oh. Those are lovely names.” She said, “Lion and Phoenix DNA? Do you have Phoenixes in your world?” Celestia inquired. “Yup. They’re rare though and exist in myths for people who aren’t aware they’re real. So because of that, all the mythical creatures of the world are safe and it’s ensured it’s kept that way.” “So what are their abilities and powers?” Luna inquired. “Same as me and my siblings as well as my friends. Though Kalia is far better at healing with Energtris than anyone else. She doesn’t like being in a fight but she can handle herself when needed, and she’s not someone you want to anger. Trust me.” I shudder from a memory. “Aside from that, she also has the abilities of a Phoenix. Scáth can control and use shadows to her advantage. The things she’s able to do with it are impressive, even going so far as to use shadows to warp around. More importantly, Scáth got her power for a specific reason; to capture me.” I explained. “And is she good at it?” Twilight asked. “Oh yeah. On a couple occasions, she’s stopped me in my tracks and I couldn’t break her grip. Which was a good thing at times.” “Is Kalia able to resurrect like a Phoenix?” Celestia asked. “Honestly, we don’t know. My sister and I believe she can, Kalia wants to believe it too but we never want to find out. For obvious reasons. Anyway, that’s about the gist of it for my backstory, or at least what I feel comfortable telling you all.” I raise a claw and it glows, then the energy forms into a short blade. I then stab thin air with said claw and cut downward, creating a small portal. Everyone was watching me closely. I reached my claw in and grabbed something then pulled it out. Fluttershy instantly recognized the injector capsule I extracted from the manticore. I held up my other claw to the portal like I was gonna squeeze it and closed my claw, effectively closing the small portal. “What did you just do?” Twilight asked. “I used my energy to puncture space and force open a passage to a pocket dimension my siblings and I created as well currently share. Then I used my energy to close it.” I explained. “Amazing. You’ve done something even the most powerful unicorns couldn’t accomplish.” Celestia complimented. “That’s interesting to know.” I stated. “But that’s not what I wanted to show you. This is.” I show everyone the injector capsule. “Is that some kind of injector?” Twilight questioned. “Good eye Twilight. It is but I doubt it’s anything like what Equestrians use. Plus the purpose of this injector is different. This was stuck in the manticore that attacked Fluttershy.” Everyone but Fluttershy were a bit surprised and now viewing the thing in a different light. “I can run some tests on it. See what kind of substance was used on the manticore.” Twilight offered but I waved a claw. “No need. I already know what was in it and you won’t find any trace of it in the manticore. I made sure to destroy the substance in order to cure it. It’s a serum that causes the subject to become more aggressive and violent while also enhancing physical capabilities. Of course that also means the subject can’t think straight due to the brain being clouded with aggression and anger. My sister made a cure for it but I unfortunately don’t have any with me, hence why I used my energy.” I explained. “Who would do such an awful thing?” Applejack asked. “Only one person; Raynin.” Everyone but Fluttershy were shocked. “But didn’t you say Raynin gave you, your family, and friends your powers?” Rainbow asked. I looked at the floor. “He did. But that didn’t mean he did it with good intentions. He only gave me and my siblings the serum because of his promise to our father. My friends however… I don’t know. I want to think he did it so I could trust him but I know him better now. Giving my friends a serum that also managed to cure them of their health problems was… out of character for him.” “Maybe there’s some good in him.” Fluttershy suggested. “Maybe…” I’ve always pondered that. “I can only hope. Regardless, Raynin is smart and dangerous. He’s studied me, my siblings, and my friends for a long time. He’s even learned how to harness Energtris properly. And if he used this serum on a manticore, he’ll most likely use this on something else.” I cautioned. “Something else? You mean he’s gonna use this on other poor creatures?” Fluttershy asked. “Yes, unfortunately. Like me, he’s in a different world. Even though most of the things I’ve seen are similar to something in my world, they are most likely different on a cellular and atomic level. I can sense magic fills the air here and it’s as easy to breathe in as oxygen, so everything here might be different from my world because of that fact. So Raynin is very likely testing his serum to see if it still works on Equestria’s creatures.” “Then we find Raynin and buck his lights out.” Applejack said. “Yeah, I second that.” Rainbow chimed in. “If only it were that easy. Raynin is very good at hiding. Once the truth about him was revealed, he went into hiding and no one was able to find him. It was only recently that we found where he was hiding and he was gone. He made a one way portal to somewhere and it was only able to be used once.” “And you think he ended up in Equestria?” Twilight asked. “This is undeniable proof.” I gesture to the injector in my claw. “I can recognize his work from a mile away.” “Then how will we deal with him?” Luna asked. “With patience. Like I said, he’s in a different world just like me. All of you seem to know how things work here, so I’m sure he’ll mess up and leave a trail without realizing it. A trail any of you should be able to follow, but for now though, there’s something I need to take care of.” “And what would that be?” Fluttershy asked as I started to stand up. “I need to have a serious talk with myself.” Everyone started looking at me trying to figure out if I was being serious or not, as I started walking to the door. “Wait.” Twilight said as she galloped to stop me. “Is that really everything and what do you mean ‘have a talk with yourself’?” She inquired. “Yes, that’s everything you needed to know for now, and I meant exactly what I said.” I answered. “Can you give us some context, Sarius? Please.” Fluttershy asked. I turned to look at Fluttershy who was looking back with pleading eyes. I was familiar with those kinds of eyes and normally it wouldn’t work, but not with Fluttershy it seemed. I didn’t want to get them involved in my personal affairs. At the very least they deserved to know this too. I sighed. “Alright. I’m going to talk to my alter ego.” I saw Luna raise an eyebrow. “An alter ego, you say. Tell us more please.” She requested. Seems like I mentioned a very interesting topic for everyone to ask me about. “Putting it simply; he’s a bad version of me.” I gave a short answer. Everyone then watched me with caution, Twilight even started backing away from me. “Is he dangerous or a threat we should consider?” Celestia asked. “He has acted maliciously in the past and even tried to kill people. But…” I paused. “But what?” Celestia asked, wanting me to continue. I had to think about the subject. “But I’m not sure if he’s still gonna be like that now. He never took lives, I also remembered a promise I made to someone, in that I would talk to him and try to work things out.” I remain quiet for a moment. “I’ve started to see past events and him differently recently. So I can’t be certain if you should consider him dangerous or a threat, since even I don’t know myself. We can determine that after I get back.” “Get back? Why can’t you do it here, silly filly?” Pinkie asked. “Because I would be putting all of you and this town at risk. I may not know if he’s dangerous but I do know that I need to take precautions. I would rather have a chat with him in a secluded area, alone.” I answer. “Alone? But you said you need to take precautions, and dealing with something alone is a bad idea. Let us come with you so we can help you if needed.” Twilight objected. I stared at her. “I won’t put you girls in the danger zone. I’m sorry.” “Do you think we cannot defend ourselves, Trusdale?” Luna asked, sounding a bit offended. “Of course not!” I shouted. Everyone was a bit shocked by my response. “Sorry. I just… I don’t like it when others make assumptions like that. That’s not what I meant when I said that. I meant I don’t want you to get targeted by him. He’s attacked the people close to me in the past, and none of them are here, which means all of you are the next best thing.” “Sarius…” Fluttershy walked up to me with concern and worry in her eyes. “Let us help you.” I purse my lips. “I don’t want any of you to get hurt because you were trying to help me.” “Please Sarius…” Fluttershy reached out a hoof and held one of my claws, which slightly surprised me and everyone else. “We’re friends, and friends help each other. Right girls?” Everyone nodded in agreement. “So let your friends help you.” I look over at everyone. “Are you sure about this, all of you?” I asked. They all nodded. “Alright, don’t say I didn’t warn you. I just need to locate a good place now.” “I know one nearby. It’s a large empty valley. Will that do?” Celestia suggested. “Yes, that’s perfect. Lead the way.” I said. “Actually, Luna and I can teleport all of us straight there.” Celestia stated simply. “Oh, that’s convenient. Go ahead then.” I said. Celestia focused her magic and with a puff, we disappeared. The sounds of a struggle and heavy chains rattling can be heard echoing through the halls as a pegasus with dark green skin and dark gray hair was watching the struggle. A griffon clad in armor walked in to see the commotion and whistled when it saw what was causing the noise. “Ain’t this more than what he asked for?” The griffon said with a gruff female voice. “He said something stronger and more dangerous than a manticore. He never gave specifics.” The pegasus retorted. The griffon chuckled. “Hey. I ain’t complaining. I’m actually hoping it kills him. Something about that unicorn rubs me the wrong way and he’s not from ponyland.” “Equestria” The pegasus corrected. “And I’m aware. I don’t like him anymore than you do. But our master has made it clear we need him.” The griffon grimaced. “I rather not call that… ‘thing’ my master.” “Whether you like it or not, our master has chosen everyone here. So I suggest you at least pretend you belong.” The griffon scoffs. “Don’t act so high and mighty just because you’re the master’s favorite.” The pegasus ignores her retort. “Are you fully prepared?” “Yes, I am.” The sounds of the struggle cease. “Good.” The pegasus begins to walk away. “The meeting is in a week’s time. Head back to the Griffon Kingdom to do your part, and don’t screw up” The griffon watches him walk away with a glare then turns her attention back to the center of the room. Where the newly captured hydra is, which is now chained and subdued.