As Esalar returned into consciousness all he could hear was a steady beeping, followed by a soft male voice as he began to move.
“Ah good, he’s awake.” Esalar heard hoofsteps as the unfamiliar voice walked closer. “Good morning Esalar.” The blue stallion managed to open his eyes to see a pale blue colt wearing a white doctors uniform looking down upon him with a gentle smile.
“W-where am I?” Esalar managed to ask through his pain.
“You’re in Fillydelphia hospital, you had quite the concussion.”
Esalar turned to scan the room he was in, opposite him was a large window with the blinds pulled closed and to the left of that was a wooden door. To his immediate left was a heart monitor hooked up to his left leg. The silence didn’t last long as Esalar stomach began to rumble.
The doctor smiled at Esalar. “I’ll go get you a sandwich if you want?”
Esalar nodded. “That would be very kind thank you.”
The doctor left the room leaving Esalar to relax in his bed. Not long after the doctor left did another pony enter the room. Esalar looked over to the door to see that Rarity has entered and was proceeding towards the bed.
“Hello there sleepy head.” Rarity smiled widely whilst shedding a small tear.
“Hi Rarity.” Esalar returned the smile before wiping the tear from Rarity’s face with his free hoof. “Did we - Did we win?” The stallion’s expression changed to a slightly serious one as he began to remember what had happened. Rarity replied with a nod and leaned in for a hug to which Esalar gladly accepted.
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“Useless Machine!” The black mare shouted as she kicked a large piece of metal across the room. She continued to walk over to a workbench which had large pieces of metal on it as well as an ornate wooden chest. Her horn glowed and the lid of the chest slowly lifted open. Inside were six pieces of jewellery each with their own unique emblem on them. “I guess it’s time to begin.”
>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<>>><<<
Esalar was now up and walking about the Hospital room, still recovering from his concussion. The wooden door swung open and a crimson coloured stallion ran in and wrapped his hooves around Esalar.
“Thank god you’re okay!” Crimson Bolt gripped tighter as Esalar tried to pull away from shock.
“Yes, I’m fine Crimson. Thank you for your concern.” The blue pony pushed his friend away gently revealing an overwhelmed smile on the red coated stallions face.
Crimson went on to apologise that he was no help to them by hiding in his office through the whole fight. Esalar insisted that everything was okay and reassured Crimson that he just worked on instinct. The two ponies were soon joined by the six other mares.
Esalar turned around to his friends and then back to Crimson with a serious expression. “I suppose I should tell you what we were looking for.”
Crimson nodded in agreement and they all made their way to the hospital cafeteria to talk.
With them all sat down comfortably, Esalar began to speak. “I’m just going to tell what’s happening. We are working for Princess Celestia to find seven Moon Shards.”
“Moon Shards?”
“They have the power of the Elements of Harmony plus a bit more due to the seventh.”
Crimson’s eyes widened.
Twilight was getting worried that Esalar had already revealed too much, so she spoke up before he could continue.
“So, Esalar, I’m curious. What was that light magic that you produced?”
Esalar froze stiff, he had tried to forget about that but he guessed that it was only a matter of time before they asked about it. Deiciding that it was time to explain, Esalar took a deep breath.
“It’s – A special ability I have. It doesn’t just create a beam of light, it actually causes ponies to remember things, some of which they may not want to.” Esalar thought back to his and Twilight’s conversation back in Ponyville. “That’s what happened to the Professor.” He bowed his head in shame as a surprisingly loud gasp and whimpering came from Fluttershy to Esalars right.
“Fluttershy? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked curiously.
Fluttershy slowly lifted her hoof to point at Esalar’s flank. The other five mares followed her hoof to see something completely unexpected.
“Esalar! Your Cutie Mark!” Rarity gasped.
The blue stallion stared down at his flank to see that through the course of his explanation that his cutie mark had suddenly changed from a camera to a flash of light. He jumped out of his seat ending up on the floor on his side.
“What the hay happened?!” Esalar was beginning to panic, his breathing got heavier and his eyes frantically scanned his flank.
The next five minutes continued with the ponies trying to calm Esalar down, assuring him that everything would be okay. Crimson called some doctors over to take a look, but they were as puzzled as the rest of them.
After a few more minutes of idle staring, the group of ponies were interrupted by a pale blue colt with an equally blue coloured mane. He had saddle bags on his back with what appeared to be letters inside. The eight ponies stopped what they were doing to look at him.
“Is one of you Esalar Starbeam?” He asked slightly nervously to the group.
“That’s me.” Esalar perked up slightly as a letter was lifted out of the colt’s bag and he took it from him with his magic.
The colt walked off, leaving Esalar to open his letter. He lifted the wax seal off of the opening, which he recognised to be the Royal Canterlot seal, and continued to pull the contents from its packaging.
The stallion unfolded the letter and began to read.
“Dear Esalar and friends. We have the location of a new Moon Shard. I am sending you this letter before you return to Ponyville because the next one is quite close. I would suggest packing your things immediately and prepare to leave for Manehatten as soon as possible. Good luck everypony. Signed Princess Celestia.”
A sudden shock fell over Rarity’s body. “M-Manhatten?” Her eyes widened and she bit down on her lip not trying to hide her over-dramatic expressions. She gulped as memories flashed through her head of her younger days in the city.
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The train departed just as the sun had begun to set. Everypony had taken their usual seating positions, except that Esalar and Rarity were now sitting a lot closer than they did on the way to Fillydelphia.
Twilight noticed this change and curiously asked about it.
Esalar just wiped the question off as, “We came to an understanding.” The two ponies continued to turn and smile widely at each other. Twilight, being smart, got the message reasonably quickly and went back to her reading, ‘The Study of Light’.
Night time descended quickly and soon they were travelling in the pitch black of night. Everypony had put their heads back on their chairs to rest the day’s adventures off; Rainbow Dash was the only one that had taken to actually falling asleep, curled up on the seat she was on.
Just as Esalar himself was about to fall asleep, he felt something on his right side. The blue stallion looked over to see that Rarity had fallen to lean against his side, fast asleep. He smiled, closed his eyes and leaned his head back until he eventually fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.
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“I am pleased with you Esalar. You have found your true self.”
I wanted to leave that part of me behind, for good.
“But, now you have found it again. You must use it to your advantage.”
How do I do that? How do I use it? When I fought the machine, it felt like I had no control in what my body was doing.
“Then learn to control it. Your will power will be your most useful ally Esalar. For soon, something great will come to fruition, and you’ll be the only one to stop it.”