//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 // Story: Lone wolf in Equestria // by Xinrick //------------------------------// “So… how do you use your Hollow powers?” Claire asked me “So we have at least a base with our Earth Bending.” I started. “It does involve intent, but it’s a lot more control and focus heavy to start with, since you are trying to condense energy to do what you want.” I admitted. “So…let’s start with something basic, like flight.” I started, as I started to slowly float in the air. Claire snorted. “Ah, yes, the most simplest of powers, flying.” “Yeah, sounds a lot worse than it is.” I said sheepishly. “So…best I can start with,imagine there’s an invisible platform underneath your feet and you can raise it using the Spiritual Energy.” “Ah yes I’m just gonna mime my way through this training- what the shit?” She asked, having taking some fake steps up, only to be now three feet in the air. “That worked?” “Yes.” I chuckled. “So, let’s have a visual aid shall we?” I asked, lowering a hand as I condensed the energy under my feet and showed a platform made of a bone white etheric substance. “This is what’s under your feet but more visible…this is basically spirit magic if that helps.” “Alright… so you can make it invisible and visible?” “You can, all you need to do is focus and condense the energy to make it physical.” I said simply. “But you don’t need to make it visible to have the same effect, plus it’s kind of funny to see people’s reactions to you walking on air without wings.” I admitted. "I see… so the limit to this I imagine is well, imaging and Cero control?" "For the most part, but there's also other things that you can do with Spiritual Energy." I said honestly. “And it involves our Resurreccion.” "And remind me what that is? It's been a while." “Resurreccion is our released form, where we have the totality of our powers since it’s all condensed in our swords.” I said. “Now I’d love to demonstrate but Lillinette is…somewhere and I can only use my Resurreccion when she’s here.” I frowned. "Huh. Is that why I turned into a centaur once before?" “Yes.” I nodded, knowing she was a Bleach fan but considering all that’s been happening I understood why. “Now, I want you to bring out your sword and chant ‘Praise, Capricorn Knight’, and that’ll let you fully transform into your form with all the powers involved.” "But I didn't do that last time." I tilted my head. “What did you do last time?” I inquired. "I was just… sparing with Leaf… then poof, suddenly four legs and a horse ass." “Mind showing how you did it?” I asked, taking a step back to give her some space to do the thing. "That's the thing. I don't know how I did it." Claire said. "It just happened. Went away after a while, and only popped back up a few times after that." “Hmm…were you doing anything when it happened?” I asked. “Like focusing on your powers, kicking the ground, what?” "I mean, Leaf was trying to get me to at least lift from dirt. Then I kicked at the ground a few times then poof, horse butt." “Show me how you kicked the ground.” I said. “You just want to see my horse butt don’t you?” Claire teased. I blushed. “This is for science and understanding, not lewd things.” Smirking but shrugging Claire kicked at the ground. One. Two. Three. Four- After the fourth kick there was a flash and some small burst of Cero into the air, and Claire stood there, now in a centaur form. “Huh…that is…rather interesting.” I said, looking over her carefully. “Yeah, this is your Resurreccion form…I wonder why you could do it like this…” I hummed, lightly rubbing the side of her new barrel gently like I’ve done to Derpy countless times. "No getting touchy or frisky Mike." Claire spoke up. “I’m doing neither of those things.” I defended myself as I pulled my hand away from the rather soft fur. “But yeah…have you fought or trained in this form?” "A little. Moving around in this form is confusing and since this form adds half a ton to me it makes falling feel like a car fell on me and it's just my ass…" She huffed. "How the hell did the anime make this form look so cool?" “Because the Neilliel in the anime had a lot more experience as a centaur.” I said honestly, circling around her. “But I will say, you are rocking the centaur look hun.” "... Mike I look exactly like the chick this look belongs to how the hell else would I look?" She asked with a frown. “Sorry.” I said sheepishly. “So, let’s try to get you more comfortable on four legs, cause I have some experience with it due to my new wolf biology.” "True, but your front legs/paws also count as your arms and hands. Meanwhile I have all four legs and separate arms." “Hmm, fair…” I said carefully. “But let’s just get used to moving cause this is the form you’ll be using a lot in fights.” I said honestly. "Do I have to?" “Better to know how to move in this form when we get into a fight than not know.” I admitted. “Cause this form increases all your physical and spiritual capabilities by an asston so if your in a pinch it’s always there.” I explained. "Yay…" She sighed. “Hey, you have me here to help you every step of the way.” I said…though I just realized I accidentally made a pun here…”Uh…no pun intended.” "You just want to stare at my horse butt all day." Claire said, sighing but also giving a chuckle. “I don’t want to stare at your horse butt all day.” I huffed. "Right… you want to ride it." “Claire please.” I groaned, blushing brightly as she laughed at my embarrassment. "Hey, if Derpy is any Indication you already got a thing for it."  “I’m trying to help you walk here, not talk about me liking horse butt.” I groaned. “Just because I like it doesn’t mean I can’t focus on helping you here.” "Fine fine." Claire waved off. "So what's first?" “Well, let’s see how much you can walk first before I start helping.” I started, getting my blush and embarrassment under control so I can help my lady. She took a step, then another, then- Thud!! "Ouch…" She groaned from the dirt. “I see what’s wrong.” I said, helping my centaur back on her feet. “I mean, besides some balance while walking, doing the wrong foot first.” I said, getting them up all the way as I got on all fours. “From what I’ve seen with Derpy and other ponies, and my own personal experience with four ‘legs’, you have to do a rhythm with back foot first, then the same front, then reverse it.” I said, showing off my movement carefully as I did right back, right front, left back, left front. "Easy for you to say and do. You had over eighteen years experience plus the ponies in this world all only have the four limbs. Well, I guess Pegasus have six with their wings but point is two of these legs are all new which means getting the right one to move when I want isn't exactly easy…" “Oh trust me…it was a pain in the ass.” I admitted. “So, let’s just take it one step at a time…like…when we were both learning how to dance together.” I admitted, remembering one time our parents got us both to learn how to dance for our stupid school dance… "You mean when you broke my right pinky toe and then broke your nose when you face planted into the dance floor?" “It was an accident and it was Johnny’s fault for bumping into us.” I tried to defend myself here for that disaster. "I'll give you that for my toe but you tripped over yourself when you broke your nose." "I'm still sorry for the toe…" I sighed. "But we're gonna get you moving like a pro." "Alright." Claire's training was slow going but she was making progress. Her controle over Cero was… spotty, but she could manage at times.  Her centaur form was making better improvement with moving around. Especially after Polka Dot gave her some pointers, her being a shapeshifter and all. With Claire's progress going well I was off to find the Water teacher. I can sense them somewhere out here… in the middle of the ocean… "Now…where are you…" I muttered, flying around the ocean carefully to spot where they were before diving into said water. I didn't see anything from up here… so, must be under the water. Figures a water themed one would live under water. I grumbled, as I dove into the water to start my search there. "Hate getting my fur wet…" I mentally grumbled. Once under the water I made use of some nifty magic and biology features my new body and second life taught and gave me. Despite darkness below, I could see as clear as day and didn't need to worry about the air or the pressure the deeper I go. I looked around. I know I can sense them somewhere around here… strange. I should be seeing them now… "Hello?" I tried to call out with my spirit energy, not using enough to act like I was shouting it but just enough to act like I was talking normally. "You should not be here…" A voice replied. "That depends on what you mean by that, cause I'm here to ask to learn how to use Water like you can." I called out carefully. "You should not be here… because this is private property. Shoo! Out of my section of the ocean!" "...Really?" I deadpan. "Who are you if I may ask?" "Azule. Now off my upper ocean space!" "I need your help though." I told her. "I need to learn Water magic to fight against Nightmare." "...Who?" "Nightmare? The thing that possessed Luna and tried to shove everything into eternal night and now wants to murder everything?" I asked. "... Who's Luna?" "...Okay where are you?" I asked, swimming around carefully towards where they possibly were. "Cause seeing you physically might explain some things." "Down." I looked and swam down. "So what's the last thing you remember?" "Uh… swimming, then I took a nap." “And how long was that ‘nap’?” I asked. "I dunno. Can't see the sun or anything down here so a while maybe?"  I swam down to the ocean floor, finding some various deep sea life and… I stared at the shark-dragonoid shaped skull looking at me. It's eyes blinking in the darkness as it's body was apparently buried under the seabed. “Uh…yeah, I think it’s been a long time…” I said carefully. “Do you have any family?” "Yeah. My parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles and a few nieces and nephews." “Okay…what were some of their names?” "Rose Bush, Domino Hill, Big Rock, Little Rock, Gentle Branch, Sapphire Hue, Fred, Cricket Kick," She listed off. “Alright…” I hummed, deciding to check my assistant for the Death Logs as I looked through to see if any of those names were on the list. Okay let’s see… no, no, no, no, close but no, no, no… oh… oh wow…Okay so… they are all very dead… for over two million years! They have been down here for that long?! "Uh…says here you've been down here for…two million years…" “That sounds like a long time. That is a long time right?” "That is a very long time." I told her, deciding to look up how this one died. Let’s see… ah, here it is… fell asleep while swimming and drowned… "Alright…so why in gods name did you decide to fall asleep while swimming when you can't breath under water?" “I uh… forgot…” "Well…I guess that makes sense…" I sighed. "Alright…so let's get you out of there so you can experience things again." “Yay, movement!” She said. I gripped onto her head and pulled her up… holy… Her body was a mix of pony, dragon, mer-pony and griffon. “Thanks… feels weird to move my limbs… did my legs always bend this way?” She asked as she moved her legs around. “Well, it’s most likely been two million years since you last moved your body and…huh, you have quite a diverse mix of races.” “Well duh. Have you never seen a Draconaquis before?” “Uh…no actually.” I answered. “Oh. Welp, ta-da!” “Right…so what can you do as a Draconaquis?” I inquired. “I… can swim! Or at least… I thought I could… if I fell asleep and drowned then I guess I can’t really swim that well…” “So either two things happened, you actually couldn’t swim and drowned like you said, or you were really good at swimming but then…you literally just went to sleep for absolutely no reason in the middle of the ocean and you couldn’t breath underwater.” “Well duh. Everyone knows Draconequis aren’t magic. Of course I can’t breath under water.” … Something about that feels… incorrect or… not right? “Uh…that doesn’t make a lick of sense…” I told her. “Like…something about what you said doesn’t make any sense…especially when you’re part mer-pony, you should have gills…” “I have a tail.” She said, motioning to her fish-like tail. “...So let’s double back on what you mean by ‘Draconequus aren’t magic’, cause that doesn’t sound correct at all given you’re four different magical creatures shoved into one.” “Eh. It is just how it is.” She shrugged. “So, now that I’m free, what now?” “Well, I came here to learn how to use Water magic, and you’re the one of our special race that can do water stuff.” I admitted. “I am? Like what?” She asked. I blinked. This is gonna be like my Fire teacher… gonna have to teach them and myself at the same time… Guess I should have expected this if she’s been stuck at the bottom of the ocean for all these years. Damn it…”Alright, let’s take a step back and talk a bit about your past.” “Well, I lived on the shoar with my mom, dad, aunts, uncles, and many siblings. I spent my days foraging, farming, fishing, swimming and wondering what the inland areas always looked like but mom and dad always said never to go too far inland so I would rebel and swim out passed in the ocean the distance inland they always said never to go.” "So then…you swam too far, and you more so died from exhaustion induced drowning than just pure drowning…" “No I didn’t, I only swam a few hundred feet from the shoar. See-.” She said, pointing towards a part of the seabed that showed just more sand and some bottom feeders. “Huh… Either I moved or the shoreline did cause I used to be able to see that…” "...I know it's two million years but…if neither of those things happened…." I frowned. "Here, let's get to the mainland…" I took her griffon-like hand and in an instant we were now on the shoar, above the water. “AHHHHHHHHHH” She screamed. “The sun is so bright!! Has it always been this bright?!” She yelled as she covered her eyes. Right… two million years at the bottom of the ocean where no sunlight can reach would… do that… I’m amazed she’s not actually pale. Must be her Hollow biology then. "I'm so sorry, here drink this." I said, handing her a potion that'll help her eyes. She reached around, eventually grabbing the potion and drinking it. Once she did she opened her eyes again, blinking a few times and I saw her eyes were… a rather interesting yet pretty yellow with the whites being a shade of red. “Ok that’s better… huh. The beach looks different.” She said, looking around.  "How different?" I inquired, looking around the place as well. “Looks a little smaller… and there’s way less trees… There also used to be this really nice rock I’d take naps on.” She said, spinning around as she looked.  "Yeah…" I said carefully. "Mind…leading me around this place?" “Okay… uh… home should be… that way.” She said, pointing a bit north and walking. While she was leading me I decided to look up her destiny cause…she reeked of lost life and her destiny that…honestly I'm surprised I didn't smell it from home… I followed behind her until we came across a very secluded cave where there was just as old carvings made in the walls. “Wow. Cave looks like it shrunk.” She hummed. "Yeah…that's what a few million years does…" She walked in, looked around and frowned. “Ah boo… did they move out or…” She said as she looked around. “Don’t even see Klick’s weird collection of animal bones.” I was about to say something, but a ping came from my Assistant as I looked at it to see what her destiny was…and…oh no…"So uh…I have some…news." “Hm?” She said. “Something up?” "So…I'm going to need you to take a seat cause this is…gonna be heavy…" “...But you're not carrying anything?” She said, taking a seat anyway. Heh… guess she wouldn’t get the terminology. "So…first, you have been…dead for two million years, you are not what's known as an Arrancar…two…your family has been dead for a long time…" I said carefully. Azule looked down, seeming to poke at the ground. “I… expected that. I know I was down there for a long time. No idea what an Arrancar is but I can assume it’s the reason I’m alive? Or rather, from what you said… undead.” "Yes…and also…I just learned that…you were supposed to be the Mother of all Magical Draconequus…" I sighed. "I mean, technically you can still fulfill that destiny but…" “Mother… a magical Draconequus?” "Yes…you were supposed to give birth to the first and one of the most powerful Magical Draconequus ever…" I explained. “But… how? What makes me so special that I’d be even capable of doing that?” "You were basically the tipping point, one more generation, your chimeric biology with all sorts of magical blood…one more and the flood gates would have opened up for one of the strongest magical creatures in this world." “But… if that’s the case then why didn’t my sisters, brothers or other family have any? They had to have had children too right? So why am I special?” "Fate is weird like that." I shrugged. "I'm sorry…and while there's a technicality here I…doubt you want to hear it due to all the things…" “... So, what do I do now?” "You can live, see the world like you wanted, you can still have the child you were destined to have…learn your powers…and I'll be here with you all along the way." I explained. “Maybe… I need some time to think…” "Take as long as you need." I said softly. "I'm here for you." To be continued...