//------------------------------// // Chapter 26 - It's a human thing, get used to it // Story: Shackles and Friendship // by Zaibatsu //------------------------------// Shackles and Friendship Chapter 26 - It's a human thing, get used to it Edited by Noxxels and (slightly by) RandomEncounter "...we suffered some delays due to errors in shipment. However, thanks to Mr. Fancy Pants and his logistics team we were able to solve the issue and construction of the railroad is back on schedule." The unicorn mare shuffled through the vast amount of reports and graphs in front of her as she continued to summarize them all to the regal white alicorn sitting across table. Not many can keep a cool head during their first meeting with the monarch, let alone give a detailed report. It comes to no surprise then that Celestia paid more attention to the mare then on the report she gave. "There is an issue regarding the tunnel. We planned to finish cutting through the mountain by the time the railroad catches up, however the digging crew simply isn't able to work fast enough to reach the deadline. We are considering the use of explosives to-" The mare was interrupted mid-speech when several knocks from the door grabbed everypony’s attention. Slowly the door opened to reveal the Captain of the Guard as he made his way inside. "Pardon the interruption, Your Majesty, but the....guest you requested has arrived." "Thank you Captain, I’ll be with you shortly." Celestia turned her attention towards the guard on her right. "Could you please inform Professor Inquest to meet me in front of the throne room." The pegasus guard gave a salute with a wing before trotting past Shining who gave him a quick nod as he exited the room. "As for the the use of explosives," continued the monarch as she looked back at the mare across the table, "that is completely out of the question. I will not risk the lives of my little ponies simply to meet a deadline. Either work around the delay or find another solution." Though she spoke like a mother scolding her child, it came from a monarch greatly adored and loved by her subjects. It was more than enough to silence any debate. "We will continue with the rest of the report tomorrow." "Yes, Your Majesty." The mare began to gather and re-organize the many papers spread out in front of her while Celestia stood up and made her way towards the door followed by Shining and her remaining personal guard. A minute after they started trotting through the hallways in silence Celestia began to speak again. "I'm surprised you took time off from your duty to inform me personally Captain. You could have simply sent a guard or even the staff to inform me." "Permission to speak freely, Your Highness." "Granted." "I feel somewhat confused as to why you would ask to see such a po-I mean, gryphon. That's not to say I have anything against gryphons," Shining quickly corrected. "it's just that this particular one has quite a record for violence. Even for a gryphon. I believe it best that I remain by your side." "If you would look closer into those records you would realize they occur within or around local bars and that nopony was ever truly endangered." Celestia smiled in humor seeing Shining recall the reports a second time in his mind. "And exactly how did you know that?" he asked curiously. Before Celestia could answer they were greeted by a very disgruntled voice. "You had better have a good reason for taking me away from my research, Celestia." Just in front of the giant double doors leading to the throne room stood an old gray unicorn who clearly preferred to be elsewhere. "I am very close to finishing one of my thesis and I have a great many experiments to oversee." "You will address and speak to Her Highness with respect!" shouted Shining with a scowl. Instead of anger or contempt, Inquest merely gave the captain a bored and uninterested look. "I see you've still got that stick up your flank boy," spoke the grizzled unicorn flatly with only the slightest emphasis at the end. "That’s quite enough you two," warned the monarch. "My apologies, Your Majesty." Shining Armor silently scolded himself for losing his cool and composure so easily in Celestia’s presence. "So, care to explain why you've ordered the guards to drag me away from my research?" Shining's eye twitched just the slightest bit as Inquest continued to converse with the Princess in his own ever frustrating way. "I'll explain everything inside." As Celestia trotted towards the throne room the two unicorn guards quickly used their magic to open the giant doors. "For now, there's an old friend we have to-" "INQUEST!!" With their ears flattening out of reflex against the loud shout, everypony turned their attention to the source. There in the center of the throne room, flanked by two royal soldiers, stood what could easily be the largest gryphon Shining had ever seen. Larger than any earth pony soldier under his command and only a head shorter from Celestia, the gryphon easily towered over most ponies. With size alone anypony would have assumed the gryphon to be male, but with a second look Shining noticed how the gryphon had far too many feminine characteristics to be a male. Despite the massive amount of muscle in her body the gryphon still had a sharper and more streamlined body structure. It was generally difficult to determine the age of a gryphon from looks alone, but if Shining had to guess she was quite aged. Perhaps nearing or even older than the professor. There were several scars running across her body, mainly around the front chest and limbs with a few scratches on her beak. She wore a belt and multiple straps across her body lined with pockets of various sizes, some with holes and others stuffed full with roots and leaves. Despite her size, she turned and took a leaping stance faster than the guards beside her could react. With a single beat of her wings she lunged with predatory speed towards them, or to be more accurate, straight at the professor. For Inquest, the physical prowess of the gryphon was well known to him. He knew at this point any attempt to dodge, or even teleport, would be far too late. Resigning himself to his fate, Inquest could only turn and glare at Celestia with eyes that shot daggers. "I hate you so much right now," he spoke flatly before being barreled down by the giant avian predator. With several quick movements the gryphon rolled across the floor mitigating any damage both would have suffered from the impact before easily rising back up to a sitting position. As entertaining it was to see the old pony get what's due, Shining was still the Captain of the Royal Guard and the gryphon had just assaulted somepony in front of him. "Guards! Seize her!" Even before Shining's order the soldiers around the throne room had already taken action and were in position to subdue. But just before any of them could act they were stopped in their tracks by a raised wing from Celestia. Shining's worries came to a rest when Celestia gave him a knowing look and a nod indicating that something of this nature was expected. "GAH! Release me this instant Crea!!" shouted Inquest as he struggled to free himself from the gryphon's bear hug. Inquest was by no means weak despite his age, physically stronger than most guards in the castle even, yet it was clear that the gryphon completely outmatched the pony in strength. "Aww, still the wumpy grumpy pony as ever," she teased as if talking to a foal. She sat on her rump with both her front limbs wrapped around Inquest while rubbing the side of her face on his neck affectionately. Though Celestia was clearly enjoying the scene, with her giggles reverberating beautifully around like bells, it was an effort for Shining and the guards around to remain professional seeing the old pony being treated like a giant stuffed doll. "Enough!" Inquest's horn suddenly started glowing bleach white which quickly began to spread and cover his entire body. Seconds later he disappeared in a bright white flash and reappeared at the opposite far end of the throne room looking absolutely pissed. The gryphon had already taken another leaping stance with her wings spread out to her sides ready to chase after. Knowing that this could easily continue on endlessly, Celestia decided it was best to intervene and moved in between the two. "It's good to see you’re still as energetic as ever, Crea." "Hey Celes, how you've been?" replied the gryphon casually like an old friend. "I'm well, thank you for asking." Celestia turned to the Shining. "Captain, allow me to introduce to you one of the best-" "Ahem" "The best and finest hunter of the Gryphon Confederation, Crea Whistwind." (AN: Pronounced "kree-ya") "Hey," she greeted as she held out a claw towards Shining. "Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard," he replied as he placed a hoof in her claw only to regret it the next moment when she grasped it with a bit too much strength. "Exactly how have you come to know the Princess?" he asked while trying to hide his discomfort. "I've done some odd jobs for her here and there," she answered casually. "Don't let her answer fool you Captain, Crea has done Equestria a great service numerous times in the past," added Celestia. "She and Inquest have gone through many adventures together on my behalf." "I've read all the reports of the professor's accomplishments and exploits. So you're the gryphon that he often travels with. Why was your name never mentioned?" "He's just shy is all," she answered before leaning down and whispering in Shining’s ear, "he doesn't want others to know that he's my mate." "You two are married!?" shouted Shining in surprise, the shock of the news causing his discipline to slip momentarily. "Lies! I never agreed to such a union!!" screamed Inquest who was still keeping his distance. "That's not what the Zebras think!" Crea shouted teasingly in return. "It was a drink! They offered us a drink while we were in the middle of the plains during drought season! Anypony would have accepted the offer!!" "As entertaining as it is to reminisce," Celestia interrupted, "there is an urgent matter I’d like to discuss. Let us move to a more comfortable room and continue there." [Meanwhile.....] "Here you go sir, our three cut, slow roasted, dry-aged, USDA prime porterhouse T-bone steak combo over roasted vegetables with a side of golden fries and fresh coleslaw. Enjoy." "Oooooooh c'mere my pretty." I grabbed the wooden board and dragged it close while taking a large whiff and savoring the smell. I could even hear the oil in the meat still crackling from the heat as is oozed down the sized glazing the tender beef and giving it a near perfect shine. With a fork I punctured the closest steak, which spewed out thick flavorful juices, and began cutting it apart with a steak knife. Like hot knife to butter the meat easily parted open with hardly any resistance, a testimony to its tenderness. "You might wanna hurry with that." I jerked my head up and looked at the opposite side of the dining table only to see a mirror copy of myself sitting there crossed legged with arms folded across his chest. Or he would have been a mirror copy if the whites of his eyes wasn’t blazing blue and glowing. It didn't take long for me to figure out who it was. "I'm not sharing!" I shouted as I dragged the plate even closer until it was touching my chest. "Really? Here I am fully materialized in your dream meeting face to face for the first time and the first thing you say is: I'm not sharing?" He chuckled and shook his head before gazing longingly at the meal in front of me. "Guess I shouldn't be surprised." Seeing as he has yet to make any move for my plate I began to ease off and grabbed my utensils. "So what the hell are you here for then?" "Just thought I'd drop by," he answered with a shrug. "I have been wondering though." "About what?" "Us." I cocked my brow at him. "Well, specifically myself being as I am." "Where the hell did this come from?" "Just random thoughts. As entertaining it is to be your subconscious I find things a bit dull sometimes so I’ve been thinking about what I’m suppose to do. Sure I'll warn you about something and you'll completely ignore which one day will be the end of us, but what if there's anything else beside." "Hearing and talking to a voice inside my head is bad enough, I don't need you to start getting ideas about helping me. The last thing I need is for you to play psychiatrist. It's not like I'm going crazy or anything, all things considered I've done a fabulous job coping with things. Hell I even have a job." "Ok first, it's not a job, it's recompense for wrecking her house. Second, you've only accepted the fact and idea of being stuck here, there's a difference between accepting and coping. And third, you better take that bite quickly." "What?" "Too late." Suddenly everything started to shake violently for a few seconds before it all disappeared into darkness. "Rodney!" "Rodney!" "Rodney!" "Wake up!" The first sensation my mind registered were the two hooves bent over my shoulders, the shaking, then Twilight's voice, and finally realizing that I've woken up from my lucid dream. "NOOOOOO!!!" (AN: Press the button. Thank you Tensa :D) "Aah!" yelped Twilight as I jolted to a sitting position, sending Twilight tumbling backwards. "Oh god it was so close!!" "What are you yell-" Twilight froze mid sentence as I gave her a death glare. "Uhm, Rodney?" she asked nervously with her ears flat against her head. I reached out with both hands and grasped her head before bringing my face to stare directly into her gigantic eyes. "I was that close Twilight," I whispered menacingly. "THAT. Close. Why?" "Uh, I....I couldn't find the sapphire," she answered now confused and somewhat scared of my erratic behavior. "I...thought we lost it and-" "Enough," I let out a long sigh, "I get it." I took a few deep breaths to calm myself which, unfortunately, didn't improve my mood. To make things worse my headache was slowly creeping back in. "Rodney, uhm...co-could you please let me go now?" I ignored her plea for several seconds before suddenly looking up to her with a big beaming smile as an idea popped into my head. "I’m putting an end to this ‘no meat’ diet from Luna and you’re going to help me." My smile widened which prominently showed my teeth causing Twilight's eyes to shrink. If she was scared before she was downright frightened now. "Huh?" Without answering I released her, got up, and made my way to the base of the tree. I could hear Twilight following as I bent over and removed the dirt covering the gem. It bathed the area once again in radiant hues of blue as I straightened up with it in hand. "YOU BURIED IT!?" Twilight galloped over and would have barreled me down had I not moved out of the way. With the gem held up above my head I kept moving about as Twilight kept jumping up and down with her front hooves waving over her head in an attempt to grab the gem, which was hilarious considering she had no way of actually grabbing hold. She even tried biting on my chains in order to pull my hand down but I was still too quick for her. "Let me, ugh! See it, ugh! It could be damaged!" she pleaded between jumps. "Now tell me, exactly how bad do you want this thing?" I’ll admit it was a low and douchey move but right now I hardly cared. Twilight stopped just before she jumping and glared up at me. "Don't worry I'm not holding it for ransom." I lightly threw the gem up in the air towards her which she quickly grabbed with her magic. She started spinning it in front of her as she inspected it for damage, or at least tried to. The brilliant shine of the gem made it impossible to see anything other than the intense light it gave off. "Cause you're still gonna do what I say." "And what makes you say that?" "Simple. You're a good pers-er, pony Twilight." She cocked her brow at me curiously. "For all I care you can take all the credit for the gem. Thing is, you'll still feel like you owe me." "I'm...not sure if that was a compliment or-" "It's a human thing, get used to it." "What if I say-" "You won’t." Her eye twitched as she looked at me irritably. "Fine. What do you want?" "What else?" I leaned over and brought my face closer to her's, "I want meat Twilight." "Rodney I can’t-" "Yes I know it's Luna's order, one of the rulers of Equestria and Celestia's sister. But eight ounces Twilight! That's all I'm asking." Seeing as Twilight was still about to argue I quickly grabbed both of her ears and started kneading and scratching them the same way I would to a dog. Whatever she was about to say came out slurred as I began to subdue her with my fingers. "I'll scratch your ears whenever you want for a whole week Twily. C'mon I know you love it." Twilight was resisting and was even about to remove my hands with a hoof but she quickly faltered once I intensified my efforts. I doubt Twilight even realized how she kept pressing and twisting her head towards my hands as her lips took an O shape while her body shivered in delight. Even her legs started to wobble a bit, not sure if she was still exhausted from charging the gem or from the sensation alone, maybe both. The floating arcane gem was also starting to erratically descend to the ground as Twilight's concentration began to waver under my assault. "Give in Twilight!" I teased as I started to scratch the area between her head and neck. "Give yourself to the dark side!" I could see it in her eyes as she tried multiple times to resist which I easily crushed every single time by scratching a specific spot in the back of her left ear. "Fine, you win," she spoke in an angry tone. She tried to look angrily at me but she just couldn’t get rid of the smile on her face so long as I continued scratching her. "You're despicable," she said with great disdain. "Human," I shrugged. "So, shall we head out to Fluttershy's then?" "I can't ask her for meat! She's my best friend and I don't want her to think I'm doing anything weird." "Just tell her it's for Spike. Dragons do eat meat right?" "Yes but not Spike, he follows a strict pony diet. He eats gems for what he needs from meat. Just give me time to think of something alright?" I let out a sigh, "Fine." Twilight gave me another irritated look before her attention shifted back to the floating arcane gem next to her. "I suppose there's gonna be an uproar once word of that thing goes out." "I'm not going public with this." I looked confusedly at her. "Yet. Not until I understand it." "Ah, I suppose being the first to create an arcane gem isn't much if you can't explain how it was created." "Exactly. And the only way to do that is to first learn and understand your magic, clearly yours is different from everypony. Having some very interesting properties." "And that's the real prize you're chasing am I right? New magic, an entirely new type that plays on different rules." "Yes!" squealed Twilight. "Imagine the possibilities! By studying your magic we could create new spells that work under different, more efficient restrictions! Find breakthroughs in magical research and-" "And the one to spearhead it all would be none other than Twilight Sparkle, Celestia’s prized student. Her name will go down in history as the unicorn to revolutionize magical research and practice forever." Twilight's pupils started to widen while her face took on a glazed expression as she suddenly started to skip around in a circle shouting atop her voice with the sapphire bobbing along beside her. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" "Too bad none of that's going to happen." Almost instantly Twilight froze mid air completely losing all momentum and floated there for a fraction of a second before falling back to the earth, reminds me of old Sunday morning cartoons. "Why!?" I closed my eyes and rubbed the side of my forehead hoping to ease my headache somewhat before answering, "Two reasons Twily. One, Celestia still wants my powers to remain a secret which means anything you do that brings any attention to me puts that at risk. Second, I don't want people to-uh, you ponies to look at me as some kind of research subject that'll get them fame and glory." "Rodney I wasn't-" "Don't worry Twilight I know, we wouldn't be having this discussion if I thought you were. The reason I've been cooperative with you is simply because I wanted to pay back for all the effort you’ve done for my sake. But most of all I see you as a friend, an egghead pony friend that loves to research and learn new things." I took a deep breath to calm myself seeing as I was starting to rant and talk more than I intended. "The point is that I don’t want to be poked and prodded for the rest of my life here. Even though I’m stuck here I still like to have a normal life if possible, well, normal as things get in this place. I’d like to own a property, a home, something to call my own even. I doubt those things will come easy when everybody sees me as nothing more than an arcane gem making machine. It's why I brought it up the first place, I wanted to know your plans for it." "I'm sorry Rodney, I should have been more considerate and thought how you felt. I got so excited about everything that....I’m sorry." Twilight's head hung low with her ears fallen flat as she gazed at the ground feeling saddened. More so knowing the dream she imagined just a moment ago got shot down, I couldn't really blame her. "Cheer up Twilight, I'm not saying you'll never publicize anything." Her ears perked up as she looked up at me with hopeful eyes. "Once Celestia's alright with it and I've properly settled down and have all I want then you have permission, who knows I might enjoy the attention. I'd still have what really matters even after." I bent down and gently rubbed Twilight's head. "Besides, I suspect it'll take a long time even for you to uncover all the secrets of my magic, years or even decades even. I suspect you'll have your hooves busy while I find my place." Twilight leaped and wrapped her hooves around my neck and started squeezing me in a tight embrace, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank-" "Twilight! Air!" I wheezed through what little gap was left in my throat. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" she yelped as she pushed herself off me. 'Ponies. Denser body, more muscle.' 'And she's a unicorn, imagine what Applejack could do.' Knowing that her work will eventually be made public Twilight's attention returned to the arcane game, "I suppose I'll need some way to properly extract the raw magic from the crystal without triggering any explosives. Most likely design an entirely new spell specifically for that." "Speaking of spells," I walked past her and snatched the gem from the air absorbing what little magic in Twilight's levitation spell, "there's something I've been meaning to show you." Twilight looked curiously at me as I walked away. "You're remember my shield spell right?" She rolled her eyes, "Yes, the one that saved you when you hit Princess Luna just before our departure to Ponyville." "And considering how smart you are," I glance at Twilight who was smiling at my compliment, "I'm sure you've noticed the flaw in my design." "It was hard not to notice you flying and crashing into the carriage." "Well it did save me the trouble of running back in." I stopped and turned to face Twilight, now with a good seven meters between us. "But yes, my shield spell only protects me from the impact, not from the actual force behind it." "I assume you've made some improvements then? I have a spell bubble shield that works similar to yours, you could have asked me for help." "I could, but where's the fun if the answers given? You of all should know that, being the egghead that you are." "You're sounding quite like an egghead yourself Rodney." "Takes one to know one, I never said I wasn't. You're just the biggest one here." Twilight shook her head lightly at my jibe. "But enough of that, yes I did make some adjustments ever since that whole incident at BonBon's store. But it goes beyond that, thanks to those books you lent me I was able to completely redesign the whole thing from the ground up. You might consider it a new spell entirely." Twilight rose an eyebrow at me curiously making me smile. "But before I show you, I wanted to know if you also remember that conversation we had the day I started siphon training. When you asked me how that spell of yours works." "Of course! A spell the controls another spell, different types working together. There's a thesis I'm working on right now on how such a concept could be implemented to improve practical efficiency of spells. I even did a few experiments and-" Now it was my turn to roll my eyes as Twilight started started to give another of her impromptu lectures. "Yes well," I interrupted her mid speech, "would you like to see a practical example of that concept?" Without answering she simply set on her haunches and started clapping both her front hooves together with a big smile in anticipation. I closed my eyes in concentration and activated my 'Sense', my whole body flinch and shivered as the gem bathed me in intense 'heat' from all the magic injected into it. I let out a hiss in pain as my headache seemed to flare up in response. "Rodney are you alright?" "Same headache Twilight, it's fine. Hang on a minute, I need to be careful draining this gem." Since the gem was packed to the brim with so much magic it was impossible to instantly siphon small parts of it. The safest method would be to continuously siphon minute amounts which was even more difficult with my headache. 'Hang on, I got a better idea.' 'What are you on about now?' 'Seeing as it's a bit of a risk to drain the gem, why don't we just tag the spell on the gem itself.' 'Turn it into an enchantment?' 'It's easy enough, at the core it's still a passive spell.' 'But then how is it suppose to-OH!' 'Exactly.' [Sometime later.....] "Rodney," Twilight called out irritably. "Sorry, sorry." I replied with my eyes closed as I continue to weave and modify the spell. "Some last minute adjustments is all. Aaaand............................................................." "Rod-" "Done!" I opened my eyes and let out a sigh as I flexed my legs a bit to work out the soreness from standing still for the whole while. Making the adjustments to work on an independent source of magic was simple enough, it was reworking critical areas and adding more changes to make the whole thing work properly that too so much time, especially with the levitation spell. "Right, sorry about the wait Twilight. Let's do this." I held the gem with both hands just below my belly and began to work and apply the enchantment onto it. It was hard to notice it at first seeing as the gem was shining in a color similar to my magic, but as the enchantment slowly took hold the azure fire grew and intensified making it easier to see as it covered and wrap around the gem. Once the enchantment finally took control I felt the gem's weight lightened as it began to lift and float in front of me. The azure fire seemed to dim the intensity of the light making it easier to gaze at, though I still had to squint to do so. What's more the many different hues of blue that shined around now dance about in reflection to the flame’s movement creating a supernatural light show around me. I noticed Twilight staring at the scenery around me open mouthed completely entranced by the spectacle. "What do you think Twilight?" I asked in a shout jolting her back to reality. "What did you do? I thought you were making a shield." "This is a shield," I answered pointing to the floating gem in front of me, I smiled seeing her confused face. "Go ahead, throw something at me." "Are you sure? I don't want to accidentally hurt you or-" "Just throw a pebble or something, I'd only get a bruise in case something goes wrong." She hesitated and paused but her horn eventually began to glow as a small sized rock floated from the ground next to her. "Rodney are you-" "C'mon Twily!" I shouted provokingly while patting my chest. "Right at the center! Shouldn't be too hard even for you." "Well, alright then. Here goes." The pebble suddenly flew high up and arced directly at me at a pathetically slow speed, it took more than two seconds for it to travel the seven meters between Twilight and I. As expected the floating gem didn't react as the pebble sailed past it and struck me on the chest harmlessly. At least she hit me dead center. "Really?" I asked in a flat tone. "C’mon Twily!" "Rodney I don't-" "You have a stupid haircut!" Twilight looked at me both surprised and confused at my sudden outburst, "Rodney wha-" "Your ears are gigantic!" "That's not going to-" "Celestia has a fat flank!" [At Canterlot Castle....] "Which is when I decided to visit the Everfree myself and conduct....," Inquest stopped mid sentence once he noticed Celestia's sudden change in demeanor. "Is everything alright Celestia?" Following Inquest's gaze Shining approached the white alicorn who had suddenly looked enraged. "Princess?" he asked hesitantly. "That's odd," she replied in a puzzled tone, "I have a sudden urge to send a monkey to the moon." [Back at the lakeside....] "Rodney, if you're trying to provoke me into-" "Books are a waste of paper!" "......" I smiled smugly and took a pose with both hands stretched out wide to the side, "What's the matter? You mad? Come at me Twily!" Without a word of warning her horn suddenly flared up with magic as a pebble flew straight from the ground directly at me. The speed of the projectile caught me off guard and I nearly jumped away out of pure reflex, luckily I didn’t have to. Quicker than I could follow the burning gem flew and intercepted the rock only a few feet in front of me, there was a flash of blue as the pebble collided with the gem before it fell to the ground. "What do you think Twily?" I asked proudly. "My levitation, propulsion, and shield spell brought together and controlled by a single core enchantment. The enchantment tracks incoming projectiles, those it deems dangerous, and calculates an intercept course which it then relays to the levitation spell. The shield spell would activate just before impact protecting the gem while the propulsion spell negates the force behind it by creating an equal force against it. All working in unison and completely automatic without any control from me." With a smile I folded both arms across my chest, "You gotta admit that's pretty impressive. And the best part of it all is that the whole thing works from the magic inside the gem and not me." "Rodney that's-I...you! Three spells!?" Twilight's stuttering and half-finished sentences was expected, her mind was probably busy processing new information and racing with brand new ideas for her thesis. "Mind giving it a test run Twily? I still think books are a waste of space." Twilight froze mid rambling and glared at me angrily. I held a hand out and gestured the most famous and universally known taunt in existence, even ponies like Twilight seem to understand what it meant. With renewed vigor Twilight's horn glowed brighter than before as several more tiny rocks flew from the ground around her towards various parts of my body. Truth be told I didn't believe the gem would be able to intercept every single one of them seeing how fast Twilight was firing two more even before the first reached me. Which is why it was a great surprise when the gem flew about in impossible speed intercepting each and every one of them, from my perspective the gem flew from one spot to another almost instantaneously. Only now did I realize that by having the enchantment work on its own without my control it could operate without human error, allowing it to control each of the three spells perfectly at computer like speed. The gem continue to fly around and about creating a trail of blue light in my vision while the area in front of me kept flashing in blue light as pebbles fell like rain. I noticed Twilight's body posture was starting to sag a bit as her magic reserve started to deplete, I doubt she'd recover all her magic with only a single nap. "Much as I'd like to continue and further observe my new spell through practical testing, I'm not looking forward to carry you all the way back to Ponyville. So why don't we call it quits?" "After what you said!? I don’t think so! Besides, I've already figured out flaws in your...what do you call it anyway?" "Honestly I sorta made it on the spot so I haven't given that much thought. I suppose sentinel works for now. And what flaws?" "They're quite obvious actually, I doubt it'll stop something like fire or a giant boulder." "Which you won't test out I hope?" "Of course not don't be silly. There's another, more obvious weakness I can exploit." Twilight's horn glowed once again but instead of sending the pebbles flying at me two floated upwards to hang in the air. "Fast as your sentinel is, it still can't be in two places at the same time." Suddenly both rocks flew at me at the same time, one headed towards my right leg while the other went for my left shoulder. Twilight's reasoning was true, there was no way the gem would be able to stop both projectiles if they came at me in sync. Much to my surprise the gem simply froze in between both projectiles letting both rocks to hit me. "Ah! What the hell?" I shouted more out of confusion than pain. I looked at the gem in confusion for a few seconds before I figured out the problem, the enchantment was never programmed to face a scenario like that so it tried to intercept both pebbles at once. Basically it tried to fly in two opposite directions at the same time. "Well this thing is useless," I said disappointed. "I'll have to make some major overhauling before it's-" I froze mid speech once I gazed back to Twilight to see at least thirty tiny pebbles floating above her while more kept rising from the ground. It looked like there was a massive swarm of purple fireflies flying around her while she smiled at me with a look screaming of ill intent. "Twilight," I spoke nervously. "Yes Rodney?" she replied in a sweet tone. I raised both hands and smiled, "You know those things I said before wasn't true right?" I took a step back. "I love every single book you lent me, read them every night." "I know." Twilight took a step forward. "So no hard feelings?" I took two steps back. "Oh of course not." Twilight took two steps forward. "..........There's no way I can change your mind huh?" "Nope." I ran. She chased. [In Canterlot Castle.....] "...and that is why I have summoned you Crea. I ask that you travel to the Everfree in hopes of tracking and finding the other visitor." Celestia paused for a moment giving Crea time to process what she just learned. So far throughout the entire conversation the gryphon had remained expressionless and difficult to read even when they talked about Rodney. After their meeting in the throne room, all three ponies and gryphon moved to one of the more casual rooms, but considering they were still in the castle the term 'casual' became somewhat moot. The room was decorated with expensive paintings and miniature sculptures with large pillows covering the floor near the walls, the only difference was how numerous they were. With the guards standing outside the room only Crea, Inquest, Shining and Celestia herself were present. "What do you say Crea? Would you accept this task?" Showing the first sign of expression since the conversation started the gryphon let out a long sigh looking unsure and hesitant, "You're asking a lot Celes." "True, but I have asked for your help in dangerous circumstances before." "This is different, I mean sure I've had my shares of thrilling adventures. Wild animals, poisonous jungles, even went all the way to the Dragonlands for that plant you wanted me to get. The only reason I pulled through every mission was because of one thing and one thing only. I was prepared." Crea rubbed the back of her neck and let out another sigh. "But tracking down a completely unknown creature from a different dimension? Nothing gets you faster than being unprepared and nothing is more dangerous than the unknown." "I understand that there are unavoidable risks in this undertaking, however there is nopony or gryphon with skills and experience that comes close to yours. And I am not asking you to go alone, Inquest will be joining you." "I was afraid you'd say that," grumbled the gray unicorn seated across the room, furthest away from the gryphon. "I know you're busy with your research and projects Inquest, but considering what you two have accomplished in the past there is nopony more suited with Crea than you." "Ain't that the truth," teased Crea in a sultry tone. "More than that," continued Celestia, "you are the only one other than Crea that can traverse the Everfree safely. There are other ponies with extensive knowledge of the forest's flora and fauna but not with your skills or experience. Besides, you were the one that detected this echo where an entire team of unicorns failed to. Perhaps you might find some means to magically detect and track down the creature itself." "Not likely but I see your point," replied Inquest. "Although you have to consider the odds Celestia, for all we know the creature could have wandered off beyond the Everfree. Or we might just find a corpse." "I am aware, but we must try. If the creature is defenseless then all the more reason to pursue and quicken your search." "And if it's not defenseless?" asked Crea. "What if it's dangerous and wild? What then?" "Then I would leave it to you to decide what steps to take, if it's too dangerous to leave alone....." "We put it down," finished Inquest in a flat tone. "No!" scolded Celestia sternly. "In such a case you will subdue the creature and bring it back to the castle, I will decided what to do next." Celestia let out a small sigh of worry before continuing. "And if it proves to be too dangerous for you two," Celestia spoke in a serious tone, "I order you to flee and return at once. Your survival is the highest priority, Luna and I will deal with the creature then." Celestia turned and looked at the gryphon. "Your decision? Will you aid Equestria once again Crea Whistwind?" "Ugh I hate it when you say my name like that, reminds of my mother. Yeah, I'll do it," she agreed in a resigned tone. Celestia nodded gratefully to the gryphon, "Thank you Crea, I knew I could count on you. Rest and eat well tonight, you must still be tired from your journey." "I'd better enjoy royal food while I can then. Mind if I raid your stuff for supplies Celes?" "Help yourself to whatever you need Crea, the castle staff are more than happy to help. I'm sure some of them still remember you." Crea gave a rather short bow before turning around and exited the room. "I suppose I should prepare as well. Suspend all my current experiments too." With that Inquest too exited the room and made his way towards his laboratories. Several seconds passed by before Celestia broke the silence, "So what are your thoughts Captain? You haven't said anything since we started." "I didn't want to interrupt is all," answered Shining. "And I agree with your decision, considering their achievements together I believe it was the right choice to pick those two. However, with your permission, I would like to dispatch several squads of soldiers to safeguard Ponyville. The town is right outside the forest and if this creature does wander beyond...." "That would be a wise decision but be warned, the sight of so many royal soldiers could easily create a panic in the town. I'll leave it to you to decide." "Two squads should be adequate to keep watch over the entire town without raising too much suspicion. Speaking of Ponyville there is another matter I'd like to discuss." "About Rodney I presume?" "I have received some worrying reports from the town. In only a few days he sent the town into panic, both involving my sister." Even though Shining tried to keep control there was still some anger in his tone. "Yes, Twilight mentioned both incidents through her letters. What do you propose we do?" "I suggest we simply take him back to the castle." "I can't, for his sake it is important that he remains there." "Then perhaps a guard should be assigned to him at all times then?" "Twilight is already in charge of him, however I do see your point. Is there anything else?" "None Your Majesty, I'll begin hoof selecting the squads for the town immediately." With a salute Shining turned and exited the room leaving the monarch alone with her thoughts. "Hmmm," hummed Celestia as she tapped her chin with a hoof, pondering the Captain's words. A sudden mischievous smiled appeared on her face as an idea popped into her mind. Her horn glowed as she lifted and rang a small bell from a nearby tea table, almost immediately one of the guards outside entered the room and gave her a salute. "Your Majesty." "There's a maid that goes by the name Shine Bright, I'd like to see her." AN: I told you guys I'd bring her back! With that out of the way, Happy Thanksgiving to all! I ask that you all pray for me and my kitchen for I have decided to make a Turducken for this Thanksgiving. Considering the carnivorous nature of this endeavor I have decided to banish Pinkie way from my home. How did I banish a 'fourth wall breaking pony' you might ask? Simple. I duct taped my TV screen and every other portal to the pony world. Who knew right? Duct tape. Spread the word. Oh and could you give your thoughts about Crea? I'd like to know what your first impressions of her are.