Here we are; the only part of the continent without inhabitants. You didn’t think Equestria was the entire world, did you. Equestria is but a country with many regions such as Appleloosa, Manehattan, and the Crystal Empire. To be more specific as to our location, we are in a thin forest between Equestria and the Northern Territories. Coming here was a good choice mainly because of how close it is to the big-league countries without being in harm’s reach.
“So, what are we going to do now?” asked Rainbow Dash making me realise my tactical error.
I really should learn to know what I’m doing before I do things. So, here we are now in the middle of nowhere with no plan whatsoever. I did tell Luna that we need recognition. That’s probably a good start. In addition, It would probably be a good idea to start by first getting recognition in other countries. We cannot accomplish our goals by ourselves.
“First,” I said. “I’m going to take a trip to Khagix Khanate. As far as I know, Khagix does not have a good relationship with Equestria. Therefore, convincing them to join our cause should be an easier start than most places. Second, I need some of you to return to Equestria. All of you are quite influential to the inhabitants of Equestria and I have no doubt that many will be willing to follow you. Also, I think Rarity has to talk to her sister.”
“We just got here and now we have to go back?!” Rainbow exclaimed with frustration in her face.
“Is that seriously what you are complaining about right now?” Luna asked Rainbow.
Hey, look, Luna learned how to use the word ‘you’. Luna turned her attention to me.
“Look, don’t you think that you are doing things a bit quickly?” she inquired.
“Not really,” I replied. “No, I think I’m going at a fast enough pace if I don’t want Celestia to throw me into the sun.”
“I guess you’re right. If you are going to visit Khagix Khanate, you should probably also visit the land up north. They would be extremely helpful allies.”
“I don’t know,” I said cautious of the Northern territories. “It would be difficult to convince a country that Equestria has never had connections with since it was built.”
“That is correct but they have a good standing with the northern dragons.”
I didn’t know that but the idea of northern dragons does sound quite familiar. I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be called Skyrim. That would mean that the other lands of Tamriel are somewhere here too like Vvardenfell, High Rock, or Cyrodiil. My thoughts were cut off by a short-tempered Luna kicking me in the face.
'I guess I deserved that,' I thought as I rubbed my jaw.
“So what’s your plan anyways?” Rainbow asked me.
“Well, I’m planning to go try and convince Queen Chrysalis to join us. Then I’m going to fail miserably expecting that the queen is going to brutally murder me and I will be reincarnated as an extra fluffy bunny rabbit majestic in ways nature intended.”
The look of confusion on those around me was priceless. Then, I heard Rainbow Dash say Luna had kicked me too hard. Fluttershy, on the other hand, looked at me smiling as if hoping this change of events would come to pass.
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I marvelled at the sights below me as I sat on a cloud going towards Khagix Khanate. I wonder how the others are doing. I’m sure they’re fine. What could possibly go wrong? Lightning’s Path is pretty much useless where I am since I can’t see the Khanate too well so I can’t really put a target anywhere.
After 4 hours of floating around, I finally found it. It was actually quite a magnificent country. I had expected it to look more third-world or like a giant cave with the information Twilight gave me about the changelings. It seems that my suspicions are always wrong. Anyways, I formed a small barrier of electricity and dispersed into the clouds. I looked at the country. The large building at its heart was obviously the castle. I spotted an open skylight in the middle of the building. Since the skylight is in the middle it would probably be the royal court. I set my target there.
I noticed a great tactical error. The skylight was on the second floor of the castle. Instead of landing in the royal court I landed in the royal bedroom. This would be hard to explain. I looked around at the furniture appearing quite simple for royalty. I looked behind me to find a bed with Chrysalis on it. Oh well, good bye world. I guess I’ll see you again as an extra fluffy and charismatic bunny rabbit. Wait, was Chrysalis crying? Even if she was a second ago she is now calling for the guards. Wait, she’s calling for the guards! Fuck me!
On cue, a small squad of changelings in full body armour appeared and pointed their spears at me. On reflex, I made a small circular wall of ice around me blocking all of the spears. The guards pulled out their spears and were preparing to attack again when Chrysalis called them off. The guards disappeared in the same way they appeared.
“Sorry for the attack. You must be the one with the elemental magic everyone is talking about,” Chrysalis said with unexpected sadness in her voice.
“Yeah, sorry for randomly appearing in your bedroom in a bolt of lightning. I was sure that this was the royal court...wait you know about me?”
“I have many spies in Equestria and not without good reason. I doubt that you are here without good reason either. What drives you to visit me today, the most revered and reviled Changeling Queen?” she asked never taking her eyes off me.
She is taking this better than I thought. Perhaps she respected me for my abilities. I’m sure that if she is as power hungry as everyone says she wouldn’t give up the chance to recruit me.
“I have come to ask for assistance.”
“And what would that ‘assistance’ be?”
I was about to tell her when I remembered something I’ve learned. It is a lot easier to get help from a person whom you have previously helped.
“You seem a lot more troubled than I am. My needs can wait. What might you need help with?”
She looked down with an obvious sad look on her face. Perhaps I didn’t make the best decisions. But if the situation is big enough to trouble her so much, then helping her solve it would improve my reputation greatly.
“Okay, I’ll tell you,” she said after a long pause.
That’s a good start.
“But if you tell anyone else about anything that happens in this room I am going to hunt you down, drain you drier than sandpaper, kill you, revive you, kill you again, travel to the afterlife, kill you once more, then down your spiritual essence using a drinking straw. Do I make myself absolutely clear?” she cautioned in a not so subtle threat.
Remember when I said that’s a good start...scratch that.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,” I promised.
I wonder if I can keep this secret...probably not.
“So, this is basically what happened-
Apparently Chrysalis has sent her personal guard into the heart of the Kingdom of the Griffons. There seemed to be hints that the kingdom was preparing an attack on the Khanate. Well, either she was discovered or she is two months late. I am to go find her and bring her back. Or I’m going to find her dead body and Chrysalis is going to cry for 2 days and then kill me.
“Don’t worry my queen, I promise to return with her by my side.”
“Do not make promises you cannot keep; a promise is an unpaid debt.”
“I promise to return with her by my side,” I repeated.
This caused her to give a small smile and close her eyes for much needed restful sleep as I left her room. Contrary to common belief, false hope is in fact better than no hope at all. I went downstairs and got a small piece of paper with a sketch of how Chrysalis’s personal guard looked. Chrysalis must have some telepathic connection with the royal guard if she could brief them of my mission so quickly. It seems that the changeling’s name was Chao and she was of the female gender. Weird name for a female if you ask me.
I had found the griffon kingdom a while ago actually. But I figured I probably shouldn’t go in until night time. My appearance was quite…unique to say the least. With the close relationship the griffons have with Celestia, I’m probably already notorious. And since I’m most likely the only human in the world right now, I doubt it would be too hard to spot me.
Elemental magic included more elements than the original five that the Chinese philosopher came up with. The elements included light and darkness. The element of darkness was easy to use. A small amount of magic would be able to merge myself into the closest shadow. Light included two parts. The first part was bending light. As everyone knows, what the eye sees is limited to only the light that is reflected into it. So if I am to bend the direction and colours of light, I will be able to make myself look invisible or like anything else. However, my form doesn’t change so anyone will still be able to touch me. Here’s a tip, you don’t see what is there, you see what you are told is there. The second and final part of light magic is creating light. I try to avoid doing that because it takes a lot of effort and is quite inefficient but I still use it as a last resort in a dire situation.
Magic is stored in a certain place inside every living being. A unicorn has magic in its horn. A pegasus has magic in its wings. And an earth pony has it in its bones. I, however, have magic stored in my blood. The only way to create light is to channel enough magic at a fast enough speed so the raw power from the magic will glow. When I am creating light, I am just forcing the speed and flow of the magic in my bloodstream to increase so that my bloodstream glows so-to-speak. If it’s not obvious enough, it’s pretty fucking hard to do that. Have you ever made your bloodstream glow? Try it; its hard.
Hiding inside a cloud for about 13 hours really sucked. But I did take an 11 hour nap so I really just waited for 2 hours. It was that time of the day where the sky was still pitch black but the sun was ready to rise anytime soon. This is the time where the night guards are most fatigued but have not yet been replaced by the day guard. This is the perfect time for an infiltration.
I blended myself into the large shadows the castle cast in the dim moonlight. I discovered two possible entrances to the castle. Number one is the front door which has over 100 guards in the first 100 metres and if I am spotted I will die immediately. The second one is the sewer entrance which smells like shit and is filled with shit but guarantees me a safe and fast entrance to the inside of the castle. Hmm, front door it is.
I peeked inside the front door observing about 200 guards filling the main hallway. I spotted a small hallway at the end of the royal court. If I can get there the rest will be easy. Then, maybe I can avoid getting killed at the hooves of the lovely Changeling Queen.