Outside, Silver looked at Twilight. "Made any progress on the puzzle?"
Twilight scratched her head. "I have always had the strangest feeling like I was meant to hatch that egg. I know I could've done it, I just know it!" She stamped her hoof in the grass.
He couldn't help feeling a little fatherly to her. She seemed so unfulfilled and broken compared to what he had seen her as. "Twilight, forget about that part. Focus on the puzzle. How could search spells like that fail to work?" She might not succeed, destinies had been altered, but could they be pushed back on track? Perhaps not without the others. She was the only pony with any chance of pulling off the time travelling spell. "Forget the caravan. Forget the ground." An idea presented itself to him, and he put the gem on the ground in front of her placed himself behind. A stopwatch was pulled out. "I'm your examiner now Twilight, you've got an hour starting now. Figure out why her spells failed.. and use the correct one."
Twilight set about it logically. "The most likely reason a search spell would fail would be because the place you're trying to find does not exist." She said aloud. "That's on the right track, isn't it?"
He blinked, smirked and got out a pad and scribbled into it, looking at her like he imagined a censor would. The stopwatch on the ground was ticking away. Perhaps not without the others, the rainboom had been a monumental event that had connected them all... somehow that had been undone, but their natural destinies would still be the same, the world had been forced into its present configuration it wasn't its natural home. He looked around for Pinkie, trying to look the part of a bored censor who didn't expect any success.
Twilight began to pace, back and forth. Minutes passed. Ten, twenty. She stopped in her tracks. Her horn glowed. "You're not from here.
"Am I not? Yes I suppose I'm not, interesting." He wrote the word interesting down on the pad, looking at her expectingly. "You're on the right track, this would explain why a spell searching for where I am would fail… if it only works in Equestria. You have twenty minutes left, miss Twilight." She had been unchallenged for quite a while. Being a librarian was a lot of work, but it might not have been a complete challenge to her. He cheered her on in his heart. This isn't a huge power burst like the one that got you as Celestia's protege... you can do this Twilight!
The gears turned faster now. "You're not from here. Not just not from Equestria, but from somewhere else entirely." Her search expanded and expanded, and her eyes suddenly widened. "You know Angel! At least... you did...there's fragments... not all put together."
She smiled "You're correct, but be careful to contain yourself ONLY to the name of the place I'm from, otherwise I fear there might be too much of a power drain from you." He didn't know if that was true, Twilight had nearly limitless magical potential, though her greatest power came from her friends. It was a bit awe inspiring seeing her worm through spells in minutes that would take him a day or two to figure out.
The unicorns spell had reached its limit, she had expanded her search range as far as she possibly could. He could see her struggling, and with seconds to go on the stopwatch, her magic sizzled and turned off. She looked up at him, clearly disappointed. "I found a name. Earth. But I couldn't get anything more than that." She had an excited underlayer to her voice, however. "I haven't had this much fun using magic since... I don't think since the night before the exam!"
He smiled, proudly. Wondering what kind of surprises his own kids would give him. Sure they might not be as gifted as Twilight, but the kind of pride he was feeling in his chest... god he missed Angel. What had happened that night he still didn't understand. Twilight had unleashed a torrent of power, but that had required her friends being united even before they had known each other. "You did well Twilight, I'm not an examiner but I'd have let you into any school you'd wanted to get into." He levitated the precious gem that glowed with an inner light to her. "A meager reward, hold on to it, I have a feeling we might need it at some point." The world was running on a different set of tracks and wouldn't come off it now, at least not like this. "I feel I owe you a long and complicated explanation Twilight, you're probably wondering how I know so much about your past and I why I was interested in Trixie's admission into the school?" He didn't touch on Earth, she understood that he hadn't always been a pony and that he came from somewhere not Equestria, he'd let her wonder about that unless she asked him directly.
The unicorn tilted her head. "Yes, I must say I'm quite curious as to your particular line of questioning, but I am courteous enough to realize that it'd be impolite to question your methods." She said, taking the gem. "Thank you, Silver. I know exactly what I'll do with it too. I'm re-enrolling in magic studies!"
"Can I hire you for a project on that note? Either as a favor, or I'll try to find more funding for you. There's a way of travelling through time mentioned to me called Timelock. I want to know that spell, what it does, its limitations, everything. And I want it to be performed at some point. Apparently it can send a pony back in time to a given point in history, once there changes can be done to the timeline which remain in effect. Somepony did that, Twilight. You were right, you were supposed to hatch that egg that day… in fact…" Time to give her some righteous indignation, though he wouldn't tell her about all the other things she had accomplished. Things like that could quickly go to your head. He told her about the sonic rainboom that Rainbow Dash had made, and how she and five other ponies had been united.
He watched her eyes widen. "A sonic rainboom... but that's not..." The gears were actively turning in her head now. "I don't know any of those ponies other than Rarity, and getting an appointment with Rarity these days is nearly impossible." She shook her head. "A Timelock is a simple round trip time travel spell. It lasts only for ten minutes, takes you back to a designated moment outlined in the spell itself. Whatever happens during those ten minutes, as you claim to be experiencing, directly affects the future if its something significant." Twilight's answer was simple, a little bit too simple. What she had described, as he had come to know it, was not a Timelock, but a mere time travel spell. To the past, then return. If she knew the more specific details, she wasn't telling him, although he'd gotten more of the idea from Zecora. Twilight was understandably hesitant in divulging dangerous information.
Novaria's training in reading expressions was bearing fruit. Of course it was a matter of whether she trusted him. To her he was a strange pony which had given her a sudden realization about herself, and then started to ask her about dangerous magic. "Do you think its possible for you to create a spell that can track the location of Celestia, Rainbow Dash and of Nightmare Moon? Letting me know where they are?" It would be an extension of what she had done.. then again something might have prevented spells like that from finding those targets. "And I have a feeling we need to reunite all six of you again. Without going back in time I don't think we'll be able to restore your destinies.. but they're your friends, Twilight. and together you've always had a powerful ability to overcome the impossible." The power of the six was needed in this world, even though Silver ironically was working to undo this place. Uniting them was also the only way of gaining her trust that he could imagine. Finding Celestia... she was wise and fast, he had a feeling she'd believe him, but finding her might prove impossible. If anyone could make a dent in the usurpers plans it was her, and since the world had remained like this she was bound to be out of commission one way or another. Time travel, however... could the real spell send him back but not bring him back.. maybe.. he imagined going back seventeen years, fixing the trouble.. and hiding in the background so that he could prevent Angel one day from ever reading what she'd seen. He'd do it in a heart beat if he got the chance.
She sighed. "Nightmare Moon I can tell you right now, she remains holed up in a castle in Ponyville, surrounded by her guards. You won't get anywhere near her without a fight. Celestia is in hiding, nopony has seen her in years. And Rainbow Dash, I'll try, but I can't promise anything. I need a little while to recover though, that search spell took everything I had."
He nodded, it was understandable that it wouldn't work with Celestia. The geography had changed quite a bit for reasons he wasn't quite sure of. "I understand Twilight, I will see if I can convince the five others to meet you in the Ponyville University.
Twilight nodded. "Celestia once mentioned something to Trixie about the Elements of Harmony that I overheard, they sounded important. Although I don't think they will be of use now, they'e been locked up since Trixie tried to sell them to upgrade her wagon." She shook her head again. "I will help you however I can, Silver. I promise you that. Do you need anything else from me?"
"That time travelling spell, research it, and find out if you can cast it. I'll gather your friends. Find out about Rainbow Dash if its possible." He repeated the battle plan to her. His mind trying to worry about how long they'd be free to do this before someone was discovering that something was off. All of the former bearers of the the elements of harmony, would probably be watched. If all six left at once, he worried that someone watching them would be suspicious.
Twilight saluted him. "Yessir!" She said playfully. With that instruction, she teleported off. All the rest so far had been easy to find, but something about Rainbow Dash proved harder than usual. She wasn't showing up anywhere. Regardless, with Twilight gone, he was left with many options to explore, standing not all that far from Ponyville, the Apple farm, and the rock farm, to name a few.
'You need to be paranoid.' He told himself. If I was planning on keeping this world as it was, then even though all the six had been given new destinies I'd still keep an eye on them. Now if someone had watched and heard everything he said to Twilight his cover was already blown. If they had seen and not heard, then he had simple been a cheaply dressed student who had taken Twilight out for a trip to see Trixie and then given her a jewel. Lover boy? Friendly mentor. They'd suspect nothing. If his cover was blown he couldn't do anything about it, so he assumed that his cover wasn't blown. However approaching the next target he'd need to change his disguise. Transmutation spells he knew none of, but there was an easy way to change your fur coat. He'd need to find a good bush of red berries. Didn't have to be edible ones. But first.. "I'm sorry my horn." He'd teleport, not far away, but far enough that any onlooker would suspect that he had gone back to Ponyville as well.
Having directed his horn to take him to the nearest source of berries, a relatively vague location, he wasn't even entirely sure if the spell would even work. But the teleport was flawless, giving him a proud realization that his magic skills were getting stronger. He arrived in front of a familiar wooden door, which opened shortly after his arrival. The yellow pegasus who'd opened it quickly apologized. "Oh! Um... hi... " she squeaked.
"Goodevening, Fluttershy." He said with paternal warmth, his horn and headache positively murdering him. "If.. it is not too much to ask for, do you have anymore of those healing herbs?" She was the shyest of them all, and had proven to be the most illusive to interviews and investigations for the same reason. There her destiny had been kindness in general, here it had taken the form of herbalism.
Fluttershy seemed a bit more confident than before, perhaps only because she had met him once already. "Uh huh." She nodded. "I um... I have all sorts of things. Come inside. That is, if that's okay with you..." She disappeared inside with a flash of pink. The mare could move when she wanted to.
He went inside, he was exhausted. Quite a bit more teleportation than he wanted to do, even if he was growing proficient. Clue hunting that was going nowhere. The success with Twilight had peppered him up. His body seemed to move his legs for him and he found a sofa, rested his head on a pillow for a while. Just a little while thought. It didn't smell of Angel. No place did. What had she read? How could it have happened? Would she ever want him back? He was crying silently, feeling all levels of miserable. Today he had considered putting pain and misery on another pony to get his will. This place was too good for him. Angel was too good for him. Could he ever really give her anything back? Without a sound the tears streamed down his snout. He didn't just want her he realized he needed her. Just lying down to take a nap, he associated that with her smell and the warm presence of her body. "Angel..." He whimpered, having forgotten where he was. I'll just rest here a little while he repeated to himself as his eyelids grew heavy.
He thought he heard Fluttershy squeak. "Angel? I know him! I-oh..." But her voice was distant and echoed, and exhaustion overtook him. He may very well have imagined it, but either way, nothing was as simple as all that. There was always a catch. It was dark outside, he must've... oh, right, it was always dark now.
He woke slowly, watching the twilight outside. Realized what he'd done and felt ashamed, it was embarrassing. "Fluttershy?" He asked into the hut, getting up on four legs. "Sorry you had to see that… I'm not usually like this." A moment of weakness, he felt exposed and unprotected.
Fluttershy appeared in the doorway, ears pinned back. "Yes?" She asked quietly. "Don't worry, I'm scared all the time. There's nothing to be ashamed of."
"Its.. my fiancee, I've been separated from her. Something happened.. and she wanted to be alone, and now I can't get back to her." He explained. If he couldn't fix this world, he'd go all the way to Evodia if he had to and meet her as a princess, at least he presumed she was a princess here. He'd try. "Do you have the headache herbs? And… some berries that can color fur?" How would he persuade this timid pony to go to Ponyville?
"Sure! Zecora made more of your headache stuff, she anticipated you'd be back eventually." A large thermos was handed to him, and she took the empty one back. "And you want a disguise, is that right?"
He nodded, timid but smart. Not much was known about her. "And.. I was wondering if you want to come see a friend of mine in Ponyville at the university. Nothing big, its not a test, but I would love it to see you there." That might be a bit too easy. The thermos he accepted and gulped down a good mouthful, feeling relieved. "The disguise, I was thinking colorful berries... unless Zecorah left some potion?" Mixology, alchemy and potion crafting was several orders out of his league.
Fluttershy squeaked again. "Oh! You mean... go... outside? I'd love making friends.. but I never go outside... I can't leave my teddy behind by himself!" She smiled, making a 'squee' sound. "Zecora left something for you, but wouldn't tell me what it was, only that I wasn't supposed to go near it. It's in that covered bowl, by the shelf there."
Too shy, and worse frightened by something, but she wasn't sure what it was. He wanted to see what Zecora had left him. "Any notes on what it is?" He levitated the bowl down and looked at its contents.
The bowl was filled with bright blue leaves that gave off a very sweet aroma. "No, only that I wasn't supposed to go near it." She said again. "She's strange like that, almost like she can see the future sometimes. She knows when you need something before you even need it."
Am I supposed to eat them or rub them across myself? He wondered as he gazed into the bowl. Fluttershy would not be coming so easily, she might have to be kidnapped, though he wasn't sure he could do that on his own. "Thank you Fluttershy." He levitated out a small handful of bits for her. "Thanks for the effort. I might be back at some point for some more herbs. See you." He exited through the door and looked at the leaves. Was it a coloring agent? He lifted up one of them and stroked it against his fur.
Fluttershy sighed. "I'm sorry I can't help you, I'm not as confident as Rainbow Dash was." She said quietly. "I'm just the worlds biggest scaredy pony. I'm no use to anyone." She got herself all worked up again, and disappeared into her room in tears.
He noted behind his ear to further interview her, he didn't suspect that she had known anything. However that had been a mistake, she had been at the same flight school as Rainbow Dash. Those leaves definitely weren't a coloring agent, but he stuffed them in his travel bag. Then he realized he had forgotten something to change his fur color with and went back in.. looking for some bright and reddish berries. something he knew wasn't deadly. It was a guessing game since Fluttershy had only delivered headache killing herbs.
There was nothing indicating that the leaves would do anything, no pain, no unusual feeling. But while he definitely felt different, he couldn't put his hoof on it. It wasn't until he just happened to pass the large reflective gates at the edge of Everfree that he caught his reflection in the metal. Or rather... her reflection.
The pony that stared back at him was a mare. This day was just getting weirder and weirder.