Chapter 5
The Crow
The entire town was in a state of pure panic. Twilight and the others rushed towards the edge of town to see Fluttershy already there.
“Oh thank Celestia! Fluttershy can you stop this thing?” Twilight yelled.
“I-I don’t know.” She said in a timid tone.
“Fluttershy, the entire town is going to be destroyed if you don’t do something!” Twilight said in a worried voice. The yellow mare gulped and flew up to the giant four headed beast.
“Um...excuse me Mr. Hydra.” The four heads looked at the yellow mare in confusion. “I was just wondering if you could please go home and not destroy our small town. That would be very much appreciated.” She said with a gulp. The large beast then smacked the yellow mare with it’s tail and let out a large roar. Fluttershy felt herself being thrown through the air, but came to an abrupt stop as she was caught by a familiar white Pegasus stallion. As he landed with the mare in his hooves, the cyan mare landed beside him. The ponies looked at the white stallion who was in a french maid outfit.
“What in the name of Celestia is going on?” Storm yelled.
“I think I can ask you the very same thing.” Rarity said as she pointed to the stallion.
“I’m still wearing the outfit aren’t I?” He asked in a flat tone.
“Yup.”
“And the spell wore off.” He dead panned.
“Yeah.” Dash said with a small smile. The stallion tore off the dress and looked at the unconscious mare before him.
“Twilight, you get Fluttershy to the hospital. We’ll buy you some time.” Storm said as he and Dash took flight and started to fly around the Hydra’s heads. Twilight nodded and teleported herself and the mare away from the oncoming fight. The two pegasi took flight and started to fly around the four serpent heads. The heads started to bite at the two ponies. One of the heads roared and spewed out a collection of swamp water at the two Pegasi.
The torrent of water sent the two pegasi flying towards a building. Hex created a giant magical pillow to cushion their fall. The ponies hurried over to the two wounded pegasi and helped them to their hooves.
“Dude that’s gross.” Dash said as she coughed up some water. Hex bit his lip thinking what to do.
“Can either of you still fly?” Hex asked.
“I think I can.” Storm said as he cracked his neck.
“Good, I need to get all four heads to look at me.” The ponies looked at him in confusion. “Can you do that?” He asked.
“That’s suicide!” Dash yelled.
“If we don’t do something fast then that thing is going to eat the entire town! You got any better ideas?” He yelled as he looked at the ponies. “Good, I’ll be right back.” He said as his horn flared and he vanished in a flash of light. The ponies gulped in worry at the plan. The stallion then returned to them wearing his hat, cape and a familiar pendant. The mare’s eyes shrank as they looked at the jewelry.
“Is that what I think it is?” Dash said in a stuttering tone.
“Storm now!” Hex yelled. The white stallion picked the blue unicorn up and flew him towards the Hydra. The blue stallion teleported on top of one of the Hydra’s heads as his horn glowed. The blue stallion punched one of the heads and jumped off the head. He pulled a dark purple aura from the beasts’s head as he teleported on top of a cloud.
The white stallion nodded at the magician and flew around the Hydra’s heads a few times before an unforeseen force threw a large tree at the beast. Hex let out a high pitched whistle signaling the white stallion to get away. Storm complied and rejoined the other ponies in the town. Hex took a deep breath and felt a red warm substance form around his right eye. As he opened his eyes he felt a rush of pain flow to them. His horn flared and the Hydra froze in place.
Hydra’s POV.
The massive beast saw a small blue speck on a cloud and roared in anger. As it took another step forward the beast froze as it felt the stallion’s gaze on them. The hydra looked at the stallion and saw that his eyes shifted to a blood red color. The Hydra felt that something was wrong, it started to shiver in fear. A massive crow with dark blue feathers came from behind the stallion. The crow spread it’s wings and let out a loud caw. The bird was easily three times bigger than the hydra and shared the pony’s blood red eyes.
The crow flew towards the Hydra with it’s beak open hoping to catch an afternoon snack. The Hydra screamed in pure fear and it retreated away from the town. One of the heads looked back to see the crow gaining on them. The other three joined and screamed in pure fear. The crow stopped as the hydra’s footing slipped. The heads looked ahead to see that it was falling into a ravine. The beast gave one final cry before it was swallowed up by the earth.
Hex’s POV.
The blue stallion watched and saw that his spell had worked. The hydra was completely paralyzed in fear at the bird. The large beast took off running, far away from the stallion and the small town. Hex watched as his creation chased the hydra off a cliff edge. He let out a sigh as he canceled the spell. The stallion’s eyes returned to normal and his eyes had pools of blood in them. The blood stained tears ran down the side of his face as his vision started to blur and felt his hooves starting to give to his weight.
The stallion swayed and fell off the side of the white cloud. He could feel the wind rushing past him as he plummeted towards the ground. He felt his body come to a stop in mid fall and could make out the outline of the white Pegasus stallion. Storm lowered the exhausted blue stallion to the ground. The two were then surrounded by the other ponies with worried looks on their faces.
Hex slowly got to his hooves and started to pant. He removed the necklace and put it back in it’s box before making it vanish. A bright purple light then flashed revealing the lavender mare.
“I’m back!” Twilight said as she hurried over to her friends. “Where’s the hydra?” She asked as she looked around.
“Gone.” Hex said as he caught his breath.
“THAT WAS SO AWESOME!” Dash yelled. “How did you make that massive bird?”
“Illusion.” He said with a pant. “How’s Fluttershy?” He asked as she looked at Twilight.
“She’s fine. Knocked out, but fine.” She said as the ponies exhaled. “Wait, massive bird?”
“Hex made a humongous crow and chased the beast off the edge of a cliff.” Rarity said with a smile. “By the way darling, why a crow?”
“Hydra’s are part snake so they’re naturally afraid of things like that.” He said as he stumbled.
“You okay sugar cube?” Applejack asked.
“I’ll be fine. Just get me to my carriage.” He said as he stumbled. The orange mare grabbed the blue stallion and set him on her back. Hex blushed in embarrassment at the situation
“C’mon. Ah don’t want you breaking before ah get a chance to play with ya.” She said with a smile.
“You do realize you said that out loud right?” Hex said as he looked at his mare friend. The orange mare blushed violently and gulped as she looked at her other friends who all snickered. The lavender mare’s face blushed and lowered her head.
“Um....never mind.” She said as she galloped off towards the farm with the ponies in hot pursuit. As the mares entered the carriage they gasped as they saw the bright blue crystal appear in front of them.
“So what exactly did you do it?” Twilight asked.
“I will be happy to answer any and all questions after I take a nap. I used a lot of magic for that stunt and I have to rest.” He said with a sigh.
“Got it.” Twilight said with a nod. The orange mare trotted into the blue stallion’s room and laid him on the bed.
“Thanks AJ.”
“Don’t mention it partner. Course, you owe me a date.” She said with a smile.
“Looking forward to it.” He said as he yawned and slipped into sleep. As the orange mare stepped outside the carriage she saw the other ponies waiting for her.
“Wow AJ. You sure know how to pick em.” Dash said with a smile.
“Yeah, ah guess ah do.” She said with a blush. Twilight was biting her lip hard enough to draw blood as she smothered her disappointment. Her gaze then shifted to the blue cart and something clicked inside her mind. “Something on your mind Twilight?”
“N-no. Nothing. I just need to check something.” She said as she galloped away from the group. The ponies shrugged and departed.
“Well now that that’s over with. We can get down to a very important matter that needs discussing.” Rarity said in a serious voice.
“What’s that?” Pinkie asked. The white mare then turned her attention to the white stallion and cyan mare.
“Why in the name of Celestia were you in a dress?” Rarity said in a flustered tone.
“Oh....about that.” Storm said with a gulp.
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A small dark blue colt was running through a forest with blood streaming down his face. The stallion came across a crushed cart and a bleeding light blue Unicorn mare laying beside it. Hex rushed over towards her and nudged her shoulder.
“Mom?”
“H-Hex?” She said as she coughed up some blood.
“We have to get out of here!” He said as he tugged at her hoof.
“I’m sorry honey. But you’re going to have to be a big colt now.” She said as she touched his cheek with a weak hoof.
“What?” He said as tears formed in his eyes.
“I’m so sorry dear.” She said as a massive shadow covered the two.
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Hex woke up in a cold sweat and was panting heavily. He walked over to the restroom and splashed cold water in his face.
Calm down it was only a dream. It happened a long time ago.
It’ll only happen again. You know the risks of using that spell.
I had no choice the hydra was going to destroy the whole town if I didn’t do something. The stallion looked out the window and saw that the sun was starting to go down. Hex put on his hat and cape as he walked out of his carriage. The blue stallion trotted down the road to see Applejack with a barrel of apples on her back.
“Hey there you. Ya feel better?” She asked.
“Now that I’ve seen you.” He said with a grin. Applejack started to laugh at the comment.
“That was corny’r than a farmers market.” She said with a laugh.
“Yeah, not one of my best ones.” He said as he scratched the back of his neck. The mare trotted over to him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Do you wanna do something?”
“Sure, let me just put these apples in the barn then we’ll leave.” She said with a smile. The stallion waited outside the barn for the mare. He tapped his hoof in the soil looking out at the vast orchard that laid before him. He squinted and saw a shadowy pony glaring at him with bright red eyes.
“Why don’t you just leave me alone?” He said to the figure.
“What was that?” Hex turned to see the orange farmer with a confused look on her face.
“Oh not you AJ.” He said with a weak grin.
“Who were you talking to then?”
“No one.” He said with a gulp. The mare cocked an eyebrow at the stallion. “So where do you want to go?”
“Sugar Cube Corner ah guess.” She said with a shrug.
“Sounds good to me.” He said as the two made their way into the small town. The blue stallion noticed that quite a few ponies were staring at them. The two trotted into the bakery and grabbed a table. The two were then approached by the bouncy pink mare.
“Hey guys! How are you feeling Hex?”
“Better. I was just tired.” He said with a smile.
“Well, tonights order is on the house.”
“Ya don’t have to do that Pinkie.” Applejack said with a smile.
“It’s the least I can do for you saving the town.” She said with a smile.
“Well....okay. Just this once though.” Hex said with a sigh. The couple looked at the menu’s. The two were then joined by the other four mares and the white stallion. “Hey guys.”
“How you feeling?” Storm asked.
“Fine for now.” He said with a smile. Twilight then trotted forward and cleared her throat.
“Mind if I ask you what you did?”
“I managed to invade the Hydra’s mind and make it’s worse fear come to life, which in this case was a massive crow.” He said as he sipped his water.
“But how? That’s magic on a whole other level. There’s no way a class six Unicorn could pull something like that off.” Twilight protested.
“True, unless you have a powerful amulet like I do.” The ponies looked at him in confusion. Hex’s horn glowed and summoned the necklace. The ponies cringed back at the object.
“THE ALICORN AMULET! RUN!” Pinkie yelled.
“I take it you’ve seen something like this before then.” He said as he held it in his hoof.
“Oh yeah. We’ve got experience with that thing.” Dash said with a grumble.
“How did you get that?” Twilight asked.
“This isn’t the Alicorn Amulet.” He said as he looked at the necklace.
“Then what is it?” The lavender mare asked.
“Well, it kind of is but it isn’t.” He said as he scratched his mane.
“What?”
“Do you know the history of the Alicorn Amulet?” He asked. The ponies shook their heads. “Not many ponies do.” He said as he sat back in his seat. “Over nine hundred years ago Starswirl the Bearded toiled away in his studies to create an amulet to amplify a Unicorn’s power.” He said in a flat tone.
“Are you telling me that Starswirl the Bearded created the Alicorn Amulet?” Twilight yelled. Hex nodded. “Starswirl would never create something so horrible!” Twilight said in a defensive tone.
“That wasn’t Starswirl’s doing.” He said as he held up a hoof. “Before he completed it the amulet was taken from him by a dark Unicorn mage. The mage twisted the Alicorn Amulet to pollute the users mind and turn them evil.” He as he looked at the group of shocked ponies. “After retrieving the Amulet Starswirl knew that he needed a trump card. Something to stop the Alicorn Amulet should it fall into the wrong hooves. That’s where this came from.” He said as he held up the pendant.
“So what is that thing?” Dash asked.
“Consider it Starswirl’s legacy and the Alicorn Amulet’s successor.” He said with a smile. “This amulet has the same capabilities of the Alicorn Amulet. You’ve seen the results.” The ponies remembered the massive bird that appeared.
“Hang on a second.” The group then turned towards Twilight. “There’s always a price to pay for using that amount of magic.”
“Correct. While it grant’s you incredible power and the user’s mind is left untouched their body is taxed heavily.” He said as he let out a sigh. “It’s unavoidable and the pain is only increased by prolonged use.”
“Couldn’t somepony just steal it and use it for evil?” Storm asked.
“Good question Storm, and the answer is no.” The ponies looked at him in confusion. “Starswirl knew that others would seek it out and try to use it for unspeakable purposes. With that in mind he put two enchantments on it.” He lavender mare leaned her head in eager to learn the secrets of her idol. “The first being that only he could use it and the second is that the amulet would judge the user’s heart and reason for calling upon it’s power. If the Amulet deems the user worthy then the power is granted.”
“What happen’s if they’re not?” Dash asked.
“The they are destroyed by the amulet’s power.” The ponies all gulped at the words. Twilight then perked up in realization.
“Wait, you said only Starswirl could use it.” The stallion grinned at the mare. “If that’s true then how can....Impossible.” Twilight said as she connected the dots.
“Looks like you figured it out.” He said with a smile. “I’m Starswirl’s heir. Therefore I can use the Amulet.” The group fell silent and stared at the blue stallion. Twilight’s eyes were the size of pin tips as her mind searched through the countless books she’s read on the great Unicorn.
“But, he never had any children.” Twilight said in a panic filled tone.
“True, he never had any ‘official’ children. That doesn’t mean that he never had any.”
“What the hay is that supposed to mean?” Dash said in confusion.
“Let’s just say that he and Clover the Clever were a bit more than student and teacher.” Applejack was staring at the stallion looking for any signs that he might be lying to them. Twilight gulped and looked at her friend.
“He ain’t lying.” Applejack said with a nod. Twilight’s mind was blown as the stallion smiled.
“I’d also appreciate it if you kept this all to yourselves. The last thing I need is more publicity.” He said as he made the necklace vanish. The lavender mare wasn’t sure is she was staring at Hex in astonishment, admiration or if her emotions were getting the better of her. The lavender mare felt her cheeks turn red and quickly hid her face. “I realize that this is a lot to take in.” He said with a sigh.
“Okay that explains the amulet. What about the crow?” Rarity asked.
“That is an illusion technique.” The ponies then saw that Hex’s light purple eyes shifted to a blood red color. “Very advanced. I usually use this when I have to deal with unsavory characters.” He said as they shifted back to their original color. “I trick your subconscious into seeing what you fear the most and I don’t need the amulet to use it.”
“So why did you use it then?” Pinkie asked.
“Tricking one mind is a chore in itself, but four? I had no choice.”
“What are you talking about?” Dash asked.
“Each one of the Hydra’s heads had a mind of their own and I had to trick every single one of their senses in order to beat it. So if you do the math then I had to trick twenty senses at once.” He said in a flat tone. “I was just lucky enough that they all shared the same fear. A massive crow.”
“Can you use it now?” Dash asked.
“Yes, but I don’t see how-”
“Use it on me right now.” The ponies looked at her in confusion.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea Dash.” Hex said with a sigh.
“Why not? I want to face my fears.” The cyan mare said in a cocky tone.
“Look Dash, I have no idea what you would see and even if I used it on you then you’d most likely suffer from some sort of dementia.” The ponies looked at him in shock. “The damage caused by a foreign magical aura can cause permanent neural scarring.”
“Magical aura?” Dash asked.
“Each being a has a different magical energy, or ‘aura’ to them.” Twilight explained. “If the flow of one’s own aura is interrupted by an outside force then it can confuse the body.”
“Correct. My illusions are an example of just that.” He said as the ponies looked at him in shock. “I manage to insert a bit of my own magical energy into other living things and obscure their senses.”
“So? You used that sandwich thing on me the other day and I feel fine.” She protested.
“That’s because I was only tricking your mind to see something I wanted it to see.” He said as he let out a sigh. “Taking something from your mind and ripping it out causes severe damage to the individual’s mind and the resulting damage could leave you like a vegetable. Even if the Hydra didn’t run away the damage from ripping the 'crow' out would be enough to lobotomize one of the heads.”
The ponies gulped at the stallion’s words. “That’s why I don’t like using it and the Hydra didn’t give me a lot of options.” He said with a yawn. “Now if you don’t mind I’m still recovering from the amulet’s after effects. So I’ll say goodnight.”
As the blue stallion got to his hooves Twilight stood up and looked at the stallion.
“Do you mind if I come by tomorrow? Apparently there’s a lot more about Starswirl that I don’t know.” She asked as she blushed.
“Sure, I don’t mind. Provided you keep it under wraps.” Hex said with a smile. Twilight nodded in agreement trying to hide her blush. “See you guys later.” He said as he walked out of the bakery shop. The ponies looked at one another in shock.
“Anyone else really creeped out?” Dash asked. Fluttershy, Storm, Pinkie and Rarity all raised their hooves. “Oh come on guys!” Dash said as she glared at the orange and lavender ponies.
“So what if he’s different? He’s a good stallion. He saved the entire town for Celestia’s sake!” Applejack said in a defensive tone.
“I have to side with Applejack on this one.” Twilight commented. “He’s shown no reason to misuse that power of his and he obviously knows right from wrong. I mean he is Starswirl’s heir.”
“Yeah, but he’s not THE Starswirl.” Storm added. “Granted, Hex has my respect and gratitude for taking down that hydra, but he also could pose a serious threat to us all should he attack one of us.”
“So could Twilight!” Applejack said as the lavender mare stared at her. “No offense Twi, but you are the strongest Unicorn ah know. I know you would never do anything to hurt me or anypony we know, but sometimes I worry what will happen if ya go nuts.”
“It’s okay AJ and I see your point.” She then turned back to her friends. “Hex hasn’t shown any kind of aggressive behavior towards me or any of us.” She said in a flat tone. “He’s a good stallion and he knows how to control his magic.” She said with a sigh. The ponies looked at one another and groaned.
“Okay fine. I guess I got a bit carried away.” Dash said with a groan.
“Same here.” Pinkie added.
“Since Applejack approves of him, I suppose I can as well.” Rarity added. The other ponies nodded in agreement. Applejack smiled and let out a sigh.
“Thank y’all.” She said as she tipped her hat and went after the blue stallion.
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Hex laid in his carriage and tried to drift off to sleep. His mind was plagued by visions of the shadowy stallion. Hex shivered as he tossed and turned in his bed. As he tried to fall asleep he felt something soft yet firm lying next to him. He opened one eye to see an orange mare sleeping beside him. He smiled and wrapped his hooves around the farmer who smiled back at him. Applejack nuzzled her colt friend’s chest and fell asleep in his hooves.
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A few miles away from the small town a familiar azure show mare with a white mane and blue hat with stars on it was making her way back to the place that she hates the most. The blue mare stumbled and let out a grunt of pain as she limped down the road. She pressed on in hope of finding some sort of shelter for the night. She crawled into a nearby tree and rested for what she faced tomorrow.
