//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Edumacation, Part 2 // Story: For The Swarm // by VanishingAct //------------------------------// I was yet again back on a dining plate in the same old dining room with my 6 Parasprites. Blazing Ruby was invited in and we we were all munching to varying degrees of speed on a fine salad, with pinenuts, olives and onions. Storgia chose this time to ask me about the map, even though he knew the outcome. "Yeah, worked like a dream." "Hahaaa! Hear that, Gappy?! You said it couldn't be done but oh how I proved you wrong!" Blazing Ruby sat at her seat, mouth agape in slight disbelief as Prince Storgia Cadenza shouted and motioned at thin air. From the back of my head I heard Agapé's voice. "Storgia, how many times? We know we have a mental link but other ponies don't. Please do try to remember that next time..." "Right yeah, sorry, Gappy." "Oh, and while I'm here, Aniseed, are you finished? We need to have that meeting, remember?" I looked at my plate, which had been empty for quite some time. "Yeah, I'll be right up. Gotta go, Prince Storgia." "See you around when you're not all hung up with stuff'n'stuff'n'stuff!" "Yeah, same." I looked at Blazing Ruby who was now finished up and ready. she got up when she heard that we were going to leave, as did my Parasprites. We all bid Prince Storgia good day and made to leave, which was when Blazing Ruby spoke up; "Why were you two staring at eachother for two minutes?" "Long story." It wasn't, but I was too bothered with all my questions for Agapé to care. "I should like to speak with Aniseed alone, if you all would be so kind." Blazing gave her same old bow and left discretely. The Parasprites on the other hand... "Oh come on!" "Not cool, man!" We have a right to be here!" "I ain't movin'!" "Guys, please!" I shouted at them, "I full well understand that you'd like to hear what Agapé wants to say but he wishes for it to be private. I'll give you the details after, so it doesn't matter anyhow. So if you would..." With groans and grumbles they all flew out single file. Somehow though, I was able to feel something coming off of them... Frustration? Was that it? That would have to be studied, but first... My eyes narrowed as I turned to face Agapé, my mind readied with all the questions I had accumulated. Oh how I was going to query the shit out of him... "Before you ask, my knowledge of the internet is due to the fact that I was on Earth for around 1 Earth week, during which time we had tracked you down but were unable to persue you. This left me very bored and one thing led to another..." I nodded sagely. The internet be a veritable rock for all bored souls. Now, first question. "What is this?" I said, motioning towards the newspaper that had been laid on his desk. "Why, Aniseed, that is a roc. On fire." A small silence oppressed us before the small pat of a faceleg was heard. "No, I mean the thing next to the roc on fire." "... I can honestly say I haven't the foggiest." Knew it. Human likelihood: very high. "It could possibly be a resident of the Great Southern Rainforest, though, given its feline tail and paws, but then again, it also has features akin to a Diamond Dog..." Ah. Human likelihood: Not as high. "Oh well, doesn't matter all that-" "You think it's human, don't you?" Seriously, I need to work out some anti-mind reading techniques. Or just stop being so damn predictable... "Uh, yeah, kinda..." "Well, good! It's nice to know that you've been trying to do some detective work, given what little information we have about all of this. Speaking of which, that's part of the role I personally want you to play." "A detective?" "Yes. See, I believe that Aunt Celestia has been witholding information from us three about just what is going on here. Add to that everything else that needs to be figured out about why humans are here and what they're going to do, I need someone who can get me reliable information, rather than hearsay. I therefore want you to find out how a human got here when and if you encounter one and what they are going to do, and mark them on your map as well. Whereabouts of Pieces will be handy to have in case something big happens during the Game." Which pretty neatly brought me to my next question. "Yeah, about that, why is it called the Chess Game anyways? Prince Filio kinda mentioned it but..." "Yes... Aniseed, if I told you that I knew exactly what was going on and that I wasn't allowed to tell you, I'd be lying. I have no knowledge of what is going on but that Discord widened a sort of interdimensional rift that allows those powerful enough to pull humans into this. We heard the name when we came back with you, and not much else, which is exactly why I need you to retrieve this information." Well there went that question. Ah, but then another one came to my mind, about why Cadance didn't hel- "Hey Dad, did you see where I put my magic theory book?", and in through the door walked a pink (I'm talking lighter than Pinkie Pie, darker than Sweetie Belle) unicorn mare, or do I say filly? She looked too young to be anywhere near Twilight's age, and too old for CMC standard either. I concluded therefore, that this was a teenage pony, anywhere between 14 and 16, like yours truly. Her magenta mane fell straight down across one side of her head, and on the other lay an ornate pin laden with a topaz (or some other gem with that colour, anyway). And her gray eyes narrowed as she saw me... Oh, bol- She telekinetically seized me with her pink glow and then walked over to open the window, but not without Agapé taking his turn to facehoof. "Clair, please let go of the Parasprite." "Dad, that thing will eat the entire castle if we don't get rid of it now!" "Hrk... Can't... breathe..." She turned her icy glare back to me, "You are an insect, your respiratory system consists of several holes across your body through which air passes. Technically speaking, you do not need to breathe." Why didn't I remember that?! "Oh." "But I am cutting off your airflow." "...Shiiiiiiiii..." Yeah, this wasn't good, being choked by this crazy mare. I could sense distress coming off of me and from the door as well. The Parasprites must have picked up the signal. With another shake of his head, Agapé broke Clair's magic bond and set me on the table, "Clair, honestly, where are your manners?" His daughter just looked bemused. "Remember what I said this morning?" "...but that can't be right, Parasprites are non-sapient." "You just had a conversation with one." I deadpanned. I mean, seriously? And then, nothing. Clair put her hoof to her face in thought while Agape stared at her. "Well?" Agapé verbally poked Clair. "Hm?" "What do you say when you greet a guest?" Agapé said mockingly. She rolled her eyes before turning back to me and making a gesture which I assumed to be a curtsey. "Clair Rose, a delight to meet you." she said begrudgingly. I saw fit to respond in an equally eloquent manner, after all, she didn't expect me to be sapient, let alone well spoken. "Enchanté, mademoiselle. Aniseed Vortexmouth, an absolute pleasure it is to be in your company." It had the effect I wanted. She backed up and held her face in slight shock for just a few moments before returning to a scowl. Priceless. Agapé afforded himself a slight chuckle at his daughter's reaction before speaking again. "There should be a copy of that book in the library Clair." "Thanks Dad, I'll check there," she said. She turned back to me, wearing almost a spiteful look, and walked out of the door. Agapé, smiling, gave a light shake of his head before turning back to me, "So now you've met the slightly mental filly I call my daughter." I mulled this over before I realised, "Wait, does that mean you're-" "No, Aniseed, I am not married. Clair is my adoptive daughter." "Good." I'm starting to like Agapé more and more, I mean, not marrying, adopting, those are all things I stand for! Stood for, rather, given that I probably can't get married in this form and that I already have 6 children that are biologically related to me. Agapé trotted over to the window of his study, affording himself a brief glance over Trottingham before speaking again. "Is there anything you have left to ask me? I did bring you up here for a reason of course, and I know the feeling when you have an overload of unanswered questions." "Yeah, two things actually," I started, "So you, Filio and Storgia only just had enough power to bring me here, so why didn't you get Princess Cadance to help you with that?" Agapé nodded. "Now that is a good question. It was my original intention that all four of us siblings would contribute to you being here, but that changed due to unforseen circumstances..." "Such as?" "Namely the fact that Mia already had a Piece when we asked her." "...Whut.". That makes next to no sense. If three alicorns can barely summon a Piece, how in hell can one alicorn, who let me stress is a relation to the aformentioned three and therefore should have an equal amount of power, summon one? I may be unfamiliar with magic, but I'm sure it doesn't work that way! "I should probably explain how our power works." Agapé began. "Our base power is far higher than that of regular unicorns, but still pretty low, when the grand scheme of things is considered, however, owing to our identities as the Sovereigns of Love, our power increases when we are experiencing or surrounded by our aspect of love. You should probably be able to guess where this is going..." "Shining Armour gave her the power to go to Earth." "The most logical conclusion." concluded Agapé. "So who's Cadance's Piece anyway?" "Well, from what I've been told, she's a 12 year old girl that is a sort of changeling halfbreed, beyond that I don't know much at all...". Damn, isn't 12 a bit young to get zapped into a new world? I mean, you've barely worked out living on Earth, when suddenly, Equestria. I mean, I can understand giving this new chance to those that have lost all hope on Earth, or could make a positive difference to Equestria, I can even understand a cosmic prank, but Cadance wouldn't do that, so why? Could it be that...? No. Not possible. A twelve year old's life cannot suck that much. I refuse to believe it. "You seem distressed, Aniseed. Tell me, what's wrong?" "It's nothing, really..." "If you say so..." and the next thing that happened, I can't really explain, but I felt his concern, as if emotion has become an equatable force. Granted, this being Equestria, it is, but this was an entirely new experience. I mean, knowing that feel, that's granted, but feeling that feel, as it is being felt, that's different. Naturally, I thought to act on this, so... "Seriously, Agapé, it's fine, you don't need to worry..." Suddenly the concern switched to delight and success. "It worked..." "What?" "My gift, or at least part of it, worked." He announced with a large grin. "You see, part of my aim was to get you perfectly in touch with emotions, which I soon worked out was far easier than originally thought, thanks to the special hivemind properties of the Parasprite. I simply had to expand this to encompass all beings with similar mental processes to ponies, which are most sentient beings, and it seems to have worked, judging by your reaction." Well, that explains that. So I'm some sort of empath now? This should probably help. If anything it should give me more tact when conversing. But hang on... "Only part of it?" "And now we come to why I wanted you here." The grin widening slightly. "It was why I wasn't present for dinner last night, which you'll have to excuse me for. As you know, holding items can be a challenge for most ponies. Earth ponies tend to use their mouths, pegasi their wings and unicorns their magic. Life would be incredibly difficult without this ability, wouldn't you agree? And you don't have that ability being a Parasprite, which is where this comes in." He punctuated the word be unveiling a small blue box. He used his magic to lift the top open and revealed a small, metallic and silver laurel wreath. "By my calculations, this should be able to respond to your magic signature and turn it into magical force, much like a horn, and therefore you should be able to perform basic unicorn magic with this." Move over Princess Luna, Agapé is best fucking pony. "I... I don't know what to say..." "Strange. I was expecting you to swear profusely in joy." "Permission to do so?" "Granted." "FUCK YES!!! HOLY SHIT BOLLOCKS YES!" "...Done?" I allowed myself to catch my non-existant breath before replying, "Done." "Well, you should probably give it a trial before you start singing my praises." he said, placing the wreath neatly on my head before pointing to a toothpick on his desk. Well, magic is probably concentration based so... I imagined the toothpick lifting. A few short seconds passed before it was surrounded by a silver aura, and started to fly, slowly but surely. "Fuck. Yes." Agapé looked on proudly. "Well, that's all the business I have with you and most of your questions seem answered, so I suppose until next time?" "Of course." I replied. "And can I take this toothpick?" "Well, yes, but I'm not quite sure what you'd use it for." "Believe me, I need it." "LOOK AT MAH SWAG!!!" I was undeniably awesome right there, with my wreath on my head, toothpick in mouth. I was the shit. "Nice!" went Joseph. "Awesome!", and Brian. "SWAG!" said Alvin, Simon and Theodore in unison. "You do realise that Julius Caesar only wore a wreath because he was self concious about his baldness?" "Don't wanna hear it, Jesus." "What is 'swag' anyway? And what happened in there?" inquired Ruby. "Yeah, what the fuck happened to make you release panic so much? We thought you were gonna fuckin' die!" added Jesus. "Oh, you felt that? Don't worry, I'll explain on the way to the library." Author's note: I am so damn sorry for how long this took, it's just that with schoolwork etc, it's hard to find time to write. I have my ideas in check, I just need time! And for the next chapter, don't worry, it's gonna be the following day (finally)! Till next time -TheAirHideous